The Story of a Bird Kid
by Shayne Rider
Summary: This is the story of a new bird-kid from Max and the flocks past and how she escapes and reunites with the flock
1. Chapter 1 and 2

The story of a bird-kid

Chapter 1

"Shayne you are alone in this world." A voice said from close by. "Even if you manage to escape again you won't get past the State boundaries before we capture you and bring you back you back here. And even if you do get past the border somehow everyone will despise you and you will be the only bird-kid you will ever meet. Anyone else with wings like you was destroyed 1 year ago. You are now the only human-avian mix alive and successful." Suddenly the voice stopped and I opened my eyes to see the one everyone called 'The Director' staring through the bars of the dog crate I was forced to live in and smiling like a hyena. When I saw her face I suddenly found myself trying to get out of the cage once again for about the hundredth time with a strength I didn't know I had.

"Let me out!!" I shouted and continued to attack the door of the dog crate hoping to bend the bars enough to escape once again. "I am not an animal. I may have wings but I am just as much human as you are." Suddenly that hidden well of strength that I had discovers ran dry and I broke down into tears. 'What is wrong with me?' I asked myself in my head. My name is Shayne Rider and I am 16 years old. And if you haven't guessed it yet I have wings. My wings are mostly dark brown but have Black spots here and there on them. I have heard of a group of bird kids from a few years ago that had powers but I am sadly not one of them as of right now. I was taken from my home when I was about 5 years old and have not seen my family since. I have no clue how but I've had wings since I was a baby. I have only cried like once in my life and that was when I was first taken from my family. In a way I am kind of proud of myself on being unemotional. Ever since I almost escaped about a week ago and was nearly killed because the guards got a little too excited in their quest to capture me I have been on the verge of tears at the smallest little things. If you are wondering why I am kept under guard by what I call monsters it is because I am an experiment in a top secret lab I call "The School."

Those bird kids that have powers I mentioned earlier, yeah I knew and were friends with them. When they escaped I was getting tests performed on me to see how I was born with my wings and they couldn't find me so Jeb forced them to go with him and leave me behind. When I got back to the room where our cages were kept and noticed that they weren't in them my first thought was that they were being experimented on like I had been. When they didn't get returned later that day I started to get worried. The next time the whitecoats came to give me more tests I asked where the others had been taken and those stupid whitecoats told me that they had been terminated and I did almost start to cry. That was about 4 years ago and Jeb recently returned to the school like nothing had happened. Not long after that I started my escape attempts. I was scared that Jeb had killed my friends and didn't want to end up the same way. Because I was scared of Jeb I tried to escape every couple of days. Just about every time I attempted an escape attempt I got out of the cage or room where they had me and would run out of the building but just before I tried my wings I was captured by either the Erasers of Flyboys and sometimes punished until I passed out from the pain. Anyway since my last escape attempt and 

punishment I have been feeling really weird not only because Jeb told me that he had helped the others escape and had left me behind but also because I have been wanting to sleep a lot and occasionally have found myself speaking and thinking like some kind of animal. I hope I am not turning into an eraser or something of the kind.

Well anyway the 'director' just left from telling me once again that everyone I knew in the past like me is dead and that if I manage to escape everyone else will despise me because I have wings and now I am starting to feel really hot. When the 'director' was here and I was trying to get to her I was thinking about how I wanted to kill her with my teeth and rip her to shreds and I swear I think I felt my teeth turn into fangs. I seriously think I might be part eraser as well. I just wish that I could turn into something small enough to climb through these stupid cage bars suddenly I feel myself shrinking and then squeaking like a mouse. Oh my gosh I am a mouse! How on earth did that happen? After I got over the fact that I was a mouse I quickly slipped through the bars of my cage. I jumped to the ground and landed on my feet. As I flew towards the ground I felt myself turning into a cat as well and once I landed I turned back into my normal form. "Sweet!" I said wondering how I had changed into my new forms and back with nothing more than a thought. The only mistake I made was not moving as soon as I got out of the cage. Instead of doing that I looked around for a few minutes and while I was looking around a whitecoat came in to take me for more tests.

"Shayne how did you get out of that cage this time that cage door is programmed to only open if one of us touch the door." She said," You wouldn't be able to get out by touching the door like we do and you obviously didn't bust out one of the sides so how did you get out?" Suddenly understanding showed itself on her face. "Oh good you finally got an ability." She quickly went to the intercom on the wall by the door. "Omega let the director know that Shayne finally has a special ability. Tell her that when I walked into the room to take her for more tests Shayne was out of the cage and looking around. I wonder why she didn't try to escape again" A few minutes later the intercom squawked and the annoying Omega's voice came from it.

"We are coming." He said, "Don't let her escape. If you have to tranquilize her go ahead and do so, just keep her there."

"Ok," the whitecoat said "I'll keep her here."Turning from the intercom system she looked at me and simply said "You are to stay here and not leave if you attempt to escape I am authorized to administer a tranquilizer in any way I choose." At that I just growled at her causing her to back up as far as she could against the wall behind her. I thought that was kind of funny that she could be scared of me so I decided to push her a little farther. Crouching down closer to the floor like I was about to pounce at her I took a few slow steps toward her and I growled again in a 'this is my territory' kind of way and she about had a heart attack. I was trying so hard not to laugh at her fear and I somehow managed to take a few more steps until I had her practically cornered. When I was a few feet away from her I stopped my advance and just stood there in my crouched position. Right before I burst out laughing I heard someone enter the room and gasp.

Chapter 2

"Shayne," Jeb asked me, "why do you have that poor woman backed into a corner? She hasn't done anything to you." With that I slowly started to turn toward Jeb and once I had straightened up I glared at him and growled in a very predatory manner. "Shayne that won't work with me I helped raise the erasers and you are nowhere near as violent. I don't get scared easily but she is relatively new here she just started work here a few days ago." With that I snarled and leapt at Jeb and in the process of flying towards him I felt myself turn into a wolf. At the last second Jeb moved out of my way and went to grab the female whitecoat I had scared into the corner. He grabbed her by the arm and threw her towards the door. She came to a stop about a foot from the door and then crawled to it and crawled through back into the main hallway. As soon as she left I prepared to attack Jeb once again. I crouched low to the ground and started to jump. As my feet started to leave the floor Jeb suddenly shouted. "Wait Shayne, I wanted to tell you that Max and the others are still alive!" As he said alive I tried to stop my attack and jumped into the air instead of at Jeb.

I landed in my normal form. "What do you mean still alive?" I asked "I was told that they were killed when they vanished on me. And now you are telling me that they are still alive?!"

"Yes I am." Jeb said. "I am the one that helped them escape this place. They wanted to wait for you but I forced them to leave."

"You took them but left me behind to be exposed to even more experiments?" I asked and Jeb nodded his head yes. "Why? Oh yeah by the way the son you left behind. Yeah they eraserfied him. He takes enjoyment in terrorizing and nearly killing me almost constantly. I have no clue how but he is even more bloodthirsty then the original erasers." I turned my back to him and pulled up my shirt halfway up my back where it was crisscrossed with scars from claws and bite marks. "Ari is the one that did this to me. The scars on my arms and legs are from the others but he did the most damage."

"Yes I knew he was turned into an eraser and I have already shouted at the Director about it." Jeb said "As for the scars on your back I didn't know about those and I will punish him for it. Do you mind me asking you how long you have been a shape shifter?"

"A shape shifter?" I asked him, "What is a shape shifter?"

"A shape shifter is a person that can change form at will such as what you did by changing into a wolf when you tried to attack me when I first came in."

"OHHHHH," I said you mean my ability. I have been feeling kind of ill and having an animalistic tendency since the last time your demon of a son and his thugs attacked me for my last escape attempt. The only time I have actually changed my form was when I got out of my cage. I wished I could be small enough to crawl through the bars and then I turned into a mouse. Then once I started falling to the ground I hoped I wouldn't hurt myself when I landed and I turned into a cat and landed on my feet. Once I had hit the ground I turned back to my normal form and started looking around in amazement. As I was looking around that woman came into the room and saw me. She asked me how I had gotten 

out of my cage then went to the intercom thingy on the wall and contacted Omega. He told her that he and the director were coming and to keep me in the room at all costs. She then turned back towards me and said that I was to stay here or that she would tranquilize me. I was annoyed that she acted like I was deaf so I growled at her. I saw that she backed up against the wall and that kind of surprised me so I decided to mess around with her head and backed her into the corner and well you know the rest."

"So you just got your new power." Jeb asked, "Well how come it took you so long to develop them? Max, Angel, Nudge, The Gasman, and Iggy all got their powers like last year or the year before. I was starting to think that you and Fang were never going to get powers. Now I can renew my hope that Fang will soon get powers and not be the odd one out. I was getting worried." At that point the door opened and the director and Omega entered.

"Jeb," the director said sweetly. "What are you doing here and why isn't she knocked out I gave specific orders that she was to be dosed."

"Well," Jeb said, "when I came in here she had that poor intern that just started working here, backed into a corner. I got her out safely and Shayne was going to attack me but I got her to stop. Then you walked in and that is that."

"Ok then," the Director said, "you may leave now Jeb."

With that Jeb walked around the Director and Omega and right before leaving he mouthed to me '_We'll talk more later so stay calm._' Once he said that he left the door closing behind him.

"Now Shayne," the Director said, "What's this I hear about you finally getting ability?"

"Grrrrrrrrrrr" I just snarled at her then I said after a few minutes, "I don't know unless you mean the ability to do THIS!!" With that I leapt across the room turning into a snarling black wolf in order to attack the Director. I got about half way across the room then Omega curse him came out of nowhere and threw me across the room and I hit the wall hard and lost my breath. Once I could breathe again and could see clearly I looked up and saw Omega stalking closer to me getting ready to attack me. "Well Omega I can see you jump when she says jump still. You really need to get a life of your own and quit kissing up to everyone." Once I said that Omega attacked me. Right before he got his hands to tight around my neck we heard a sudden

"Omega stop." When he backed off the director continued "Her new shape shifting ability has endless possibilities along the lines of she could be worth keeping alive. We start testing her new ability first thing in the morning. But for now I say we need to punish her for trying to escape yet again. Omega tie her up and take her to her usual punishment room and set the erasers on her again but tell them not to kill her. Oh drug her as well so she can't defender herself or change."

"Yes ma'am," Omega said and the director left the room

"See you later Shayne," she said right before the door closed behind her


	2. Chapter 3 and 4

Story of a Bird kid continued

CHAPTER 3

When I first woke up I was in pain. I vaguely remembered being tied up by Omega then getting tossed in a room full of erasers and getting beat up without being able to protect and defend myself. I also remembered that Ari was the one that hurt me the most. Well anyway when I woke up I was in major pain more so then usual and I felt someone gently looking me over and cleaning me up. Once I was more awake I realized that the one taking care of me was Jeb. When I realized that I bolted up and leapt across the room snarling at him despite the pain

"Don't freaking touch me," I said still snarling, "I am fine and I don't need your help." As soon as I said that I fell to the ground and curled up in pain and nearly blacked out again.

"Don't need my help?" Jeb asked, "It looks to me like you do." And with that he quickly walked across the room and picking me up carried me to the table the way my mom used to do when I was hurt to calm me down. At that point I forgot where I was and who I was with and started crying. "SHHHHH Shayne everything is going to be fine." Jeb said, "Holy cow I forgot how light you and the others are. Now do you want to know more about Max and the others or not? I wanted to let you know more about them then I could tell you earlier."

"You were really telling the truth about the flock?" I asked once I had calmed down and quit crying,"Because I swear that if this is a test of some sort or so help me I will freaking kill you without hesitation Jeb."

"I am not lying to you Shayne," Jeb said, "I want to know how to prove it to you. If it will let you trust me I will honestly help you to escape and possibly reunite with the flock. Just tell me what to do and I will do it. Shayne you are like my daughter I would do anything to help you."

"With what you let them do to Ari your real son," I said, "I am pretty sure I don't want to be your daughter. If you treat your own flesh and blood like you do with Ari I can't even begin to think what you would let the other whitecoats do to me."

"Shayne you are not my daughter, but you are my niece." Jeb said "Your mother was my sister and I really loved her. I wouldn't let them hurt you because you look exactly like my sister did at your age wings and all. In your case like Fang's you are what we call a generation 2 one of your parents in your case as well as Fang's your mothers were the experiments. "

"I never saw mom had wings" I said immediately suspicious of Jeb's words. "If she was the original experiment I would have seen her wings don't you think and I know I wouldn't forget someone with wings how do you explain that huh?!"

"Easy," Jeb said, "Your mother developed a sort of covering for easy hiding of the wings as she got older. Chances are that you and the other flock members will develop that covering as well. I may want to mention the fact that Max is your cousin. I am her real father but she is stubbornly refusing to believe that fact. Ari is her half-brother and your cousin."

"Oh that is just great." I said, "My cousin repeatedly keeps trying to kill me. You may be surprised but I can kind of sense if someone is lying or not. I have been able to do that for ages and I can sense you are telling me the truth. Not only that but I knew I had seen you before I was kidnapped. Now I remember that I knew you from all the times you stopped by mom's house for the fun of it."

"I want to help you escape." Jeb told me "You look so much more like your mother every single day. At this rate if you look any more like her I may break down and start calling you Sammy. That is what I always called your mother. Her real name was Samantha and she was a shape shifter as well. I will try and cause a diversion tonight at about 8:00. The director decided to push your testing forward so at that point you will be in the hall on your way to one of the testing rooms. When the diversion starts you are to turn into your wolf form but stay as human as is possible so that you look like one of the erasers with wings. At that point you are to head straight to the exit that will be directly down the hall from where they will be taking you. As soon as you are out the door I want you to take off and fly as fast as you can toward Arizona. When you reach a small town surrounded on three sides you are to head into the woods in your human form and there will be a small home in a clearing. You are to go to the door of that home and ask for a Dr. Martinez, when she comes to the door I want you to tell her that you were sent by Jeb. She should recognize that name and if she doesn't recognize my name show her your wings. If you are sent to her vet clinic let her know it is of utmost importance that you meet her in private and do the same thing you are to tell or show her the exact same thing I said a minute ago. Once she is sure you are telling the truth she should provide you food and shelter. She has sheltered the flock or at least she has sheltered Max and Fang in the past so she should know your basic needs."

"Wow Jeb, hold up" I said " Need I remind you to remember that I am in a room with both microphones and camera's so chances are that we are being eavesdropped or spied on."

"Don't worry I put the camera on a 5 minute loop and turned off the microphones." Jeb told me "I want to keep our conversation private. I don't think my co-workers would appreciate me betraying them again. Let alone with another avian human hybrid. Even though they know you are my niece they will think I am a coward and that I feel guilty about capturing you from my own sister and they will call me weak and then they will cut me off from the system which means that I would not be in a position to help you and the flock as well. Max just found out about the fact that I was a voice in her head and though she still doesn't trust me she is so use to listening to my advice that she unconsciously listens to me. I want to let you know that if I let you go I will get into your head to give you advice just like I do the Max. For the first couple times I try to get in your head you will get huge splitting headaches that will feel like your head is about to explode and if you are flying drop out of the sky so I will only do it at night when you stop to rest. So it may be hard to sleep. Now remember 8:00 is going to be your only chance to escape. I'll keep checking to make sure the loop is continued and meanwhile you work on your eraser appearance. Once you escape remember to get as far away as possible and hightail it to Arizona. Don't stop until tomorrow night but make sure you are on the ground at about 7:30 p.m. because that is when you will first get a brain attack as Max so fondly calls it. For about the next week or two make sure that you are on the ground for your brain attacks at 7:30 each night."

"Fine," I said, "against my better judgment I'm trusting you with my life and future freedom. If you are just trying to get me to attempt an escape in order to let Ari and the other erasers beat me up even more than I swear to you that I will die and come back to haunt you for the rest of your miserable life."

"I am going to hide a backpack in the woods near where you will come out of the School. In it I will put some things you will need and a few bonuses's as well including a first aid kit and a few other things. Before you fly away find the book bag. On the straps will be the name Sammy. The bag used to be your mother's. In the front most pocket there will be something she told me to give to you in the event of me finding you. Keep it close to your heart and it will protect you from most injuries. It is covered with a protection spell put on it by your mother. Now I've got to go or the Director will be sending out a search party for me." With that he left the room and I started working on controlling my powers and continually wondering what my mom had told Jeb to give to me if he ever found. Due to whitecoats repeatedly coming to check if I was trying to escape again I kept returning to my cage and making it look like it was shut. When 8:00 came and the whitecoats came to get me for tests I was really good at turning into an exact copy of all the erasers that kept beating me up. As we started down the hall all hell broke loose.

Chapter 4

As we were walking down the main hallway I heard Jeb shout out and then Sirens went off

"We have an escaped experiment. We have a high level experiment that has escaped from its confinement area I repeat we have a Septillion on the loose so all workers keep your guard up. Wait Oh No it is heading for the exit and is in a fury all people run for cover!!" then the speaker started crackling. I assumed that this was the distraction that Jeb had said he was going to do considering that everyone was running in every direction I decided to add to the Chaos. I quickly turned into my eraser form that I had been working and ran for the door.

"Where do you think you are going?" I heard someone snarl then I felt a sharp tug of claws down my back and my legs. I quickly turned and saw Ari grinning maniacally. I gave Ari a nice snap kick to the face ignoring the pain then quickly ran out the door leaping into the sky. I flew straight toward the trees and quickly found the back pack Jeb had mentioned. After a quick survey of the straps I saw what proved to me that Jeb had been telling the truth the whole time. The strap did indeed have my mom's name on it and it was surrounded with tiny hearts, my mom's special signature. I quickly snagged the bag off the tree and took off into the night. I flew until I saw the sun starting to rise then everything blurred around the edges and I dropped nearly blacking out. I quickly landed in an abandoned alleyway and felt a searing pain in my left leg that caused me to finally black out. When I woke up I heard muttering and whispers saying thing like "where did she come from" or "does she really have wings" I woke up quickly and sitting up I saw that I was surrounded on all sides by kids that seemed to be around my age.

"What is your name?" I heard a girl ask as she stepped closer to me. "My name is Sarah."

"Where am I?" I asked, "Does anyone know where I can find a Dr. Martinez? I was told to go to her when I got away. I think Jeb said that she was a vet."

"I know where Dr. Martinez is." Another girl said "She is my mom's friend and her vet clinic is about 3 towns away. I was going to head over there a little later anyway to visit Ella because I just got my driver's license. I want to take you to the hospital before we go so you can get that leg checked out by my mom. Is that ok?"

"No I am fine." I said I just need to get to Dr. Martinez as soon as possible. Wait what time is it?"

"A little after 7:00 in the afternoon why?" Sarah said,

"Crap I have been passed out in this alley all day long and no one even saw me "I said. How soon can we head to Dr. Martinez's house?"

"We can leave right now if you need to see her so badly." The girl that had said she was headed to Dr. Martinez's house "By the way my name is Nichol or as all my friends call me Nicky . Before you get into my car you need to wrap that leg up as best you can and you have to let Dr. Martinez look at it if you don't want my mom doing so."

"Fine," I snapped "It is a deal but you have to take me directly to Dr. Martinez. If you don't you will be very sorry." With that I started digging around in my bag for the first aid kit and pulled out several pressure pads and tons of gauze pads as well as a spare shirt to wrap around my leg. After I disinfected the cuts with some rubbing alcohol I wrapped my leg up as best I could and after struggling to get up before someone felt the urge to help me I started limping down the alley and got about as far as a total of three feet and pulled my wings in all the way before once again teetering on the verge of falling to the ground. Sarah and Nichol quickly walked up to me and grabbed my arms to help me walk ignoring the sudden stiffening of my spine at their touch. About three minutes after that we were at Nichol's car and Sarah was helping me into the backseat. After we had been driving for a few minutes my head suddenly felt as if it was splitting open. It hit me like a brick wall and I started screaming while I was holding my head. Once I started screaming in pain Nichol swerved the car in shock then pulled over and tried to figure out what was wrong. After about an hour the pain lessened to the point where I was aware of my surrounding but I was still whimpering. As I looked around the car I saw both Nichol and Sarah who had decided to come along to visit Ella looking at me with a mixture of worry, shock, and curiosity. Once I quit whining as well they asked me what had happened and I just told them it was nothing. I curled up on the backseat and was asleep in a matter of minutes. The next thing I remembered was that Nichol was trying to wake me up. I was so well trained to attack anything I wasn't expecting that I punched her in the stomach and tried to escape before I realized who I had punched and then I started apologizing profusely.

"That is alright" she said after a few minutes, "It was my fault that I scared you like that. I should have just called your name. I just wanted to wake you up to let you know that we are at Dr. Martinez's Vet clinic and that we just missed her. She is on the way to her house so we are heading over there now."

"Thanks for letting me know." I said, and once again I am really sorry for punching you in the gut like that."

"Apology accepted." Nichol said, "I'll just let Sarah wake you up next time. We will be at the Martinez's house in a few minutes so you might not have time to go back to sleep."

"I wasn't planning to do that anyway." I said "I just want to get there as soon as possible. Wait what did I do with my backpack?"

"Do you mean the bag you got the first aid kit out of?" Sarah asked and I nodded, "It is up here." and she reached down where her feet were and pulled up the bag and handed it to me. "So your name is Sammy?"

"No," I said and grabbed the bag, "The bag was originally my mother's her name was Samantha Rider but every one called her Sammy. My Name is Shayne Rider."

"Nice to meet you Shayne. Now I can call you something besides girl or the like." Sarah asked as Nichol started driving. "Do you mind me asking you a question?"

"It depends on what you are asking me." I said, "If it involves my history I can tell you little more than my mom's name. Other than that ask away."

"Ok," Sarah said excited, "When we found you in the alley we saw what looked like wings. Are they real or a costume of some sort?"

"Oh they are very much real." I said "anything else you want to know?"

"If they are real wings can you fly with them?" Sarah asked

"Yep. I can fly with them. They are how I got to the Alley wherever that was."

"How did you get the wings?" This came from Nichol, "Are you a mutant or something."

"According to the White coats that did experiments on me I was born with and my mom was the reason I had them. She was a Human-Avian Hybrid experiment. My dad was normal and fell in love with her despite her wings. At least that is what one of the whitecoats that was my primary target for hatred who apparently is my Uncle told me. At least he told me about my mom being an experiment. My mom told me that my dad fell in love with her. That is the last thing I remember my mom telling me before I was kidnapped."

"Thanks for explaining." Nichol said. "You didn't have to do that. Well we are at the Martinez's place" she said while turning into a hidden drive and pulling to a stop in front of a small two story house.

I jumped out of the car will grabbing my mom's old bag as soon as the car came to a complete stop and I ran to the door knocking on it loudly three times. As I was getting kind of nervous about being in the open like I was the door flew open and a girl a few years younger than me answered the door.

"Yes?" She asked, "How can I help you?"

"Can I please speak to Dr. Martinez?" I asked "I was told to find her by someone."

"Sure," She said "Mom there is some teenager at the door that says she was sent to you!!"

"Ok tell them to hold on for a minute." Was the reply from inside the house.

"Mom will be down shortly." The girl said. "My name is Ella by the way and… Sarah!! Nicky!! What are you doing here? I was getting ready to call you and see if you guys wanted to come with me to see a movie in Phoenix this weekend." With that she ran past me to go and hang with her friends. After a few minutes a nice looking lady came to the door and said

"Hi. I am Dr. Martinez. How can I help you……. Sammy is that you?"


	3. Chapter 5

Story of a Bird Kid cont. (prt3)

Chapter 5

"No my name is Shayne" I told her

"Sorry I thought you were an old friend of mine come from the grave to haunt me or something." Dr. Martinez "Her name was Samantha Rider and she vanished from my life when she was around 16 years old. You look like you could be her twin."

"Samantha Rider was my mother. I was sent here by Jeb Batchelder" I told her. "He said that if you don't remember him then I was to show you something in private. He said that you would take it from there."

"The name sound vaguely familiar but I can't place the name with a face." Dr. Martinez said. "I can't remember who he is so you will have to show me what he wanted to show me so come around back I have a small examination room back there for our dog"

"Ok," I said and followed her through the house with the dog barking and then I followed her to the examination room she had mentioned. As I walked through the door to the room I stiffened and forced myself to not run away because the room smelled almost like 'The School' as in it smelled like chemicals. "Can we hurry this up please, can you shut the door?"

"You are acting like Max and Fang did when they first came in here. Now what did you want to show me. Wait are you like Max and Fang?" I nodded and unfurled my wings to their full length which was a full 16 feet and were mostly black with spots of brown close to my body and near the wingtips. My wings were so big in the exam room that the tips were actually touching the wall on either side. "I bet that you are hungry. I think it is a good thing I just went shopping this afternoon during my lunch break." When she mentioned the word hungry my stomach rumbled in a reminder that I hadn't eaten anything all day long. I had almost forgotten about my injured leg when Dr. Martinez noticed that I was limping and told me to sit down on the tiny bed so she could look at it.

"What happened to your leg?" She asked once she had removed my makeshift bandage. "It looks as if it was attacked by some kind of animal."

"It was sort of," I said, "That is if you call getting snatched by a human- lupine hybrid that had transformed and had gotten a hold of your leg with claws."

"How long ago did it happen?" she asked me,

"Last night at about 8:00 when I was escaping from 'The School' and I think you should know that I blacked out this morning at sunrise and didn't regain consciousness until around 7:00 this afternoon."

"Well that makes sense." Dr. Martinez said "The leg is so badly injured that you lost a lot of blood. Though you guys heal quit fast according to Max it is still bad enough that you will need stitches for a while and the leg will probably bother you for the rest of your life. As to the blood you lost I went smart and took some of Fang and Max's blood to keep just in case someone needed it. Right now I am going to put some stitches in so I am going to numb it." As she went to apply disinfectant into the wound she patted the leg and when I didn't cry out in pain she asked "Shayne can you feel me touching your leg?"

"You are touching my leg?" I said, "Weird I only feel a slight pressure on it but I thought that was just my bandages."

"Huh, I guess I don't need to numb your leg. I will work as quickly as I can in case the feeling in your leg returns entirely." With that she quickly crossed over to the little sink and washed her hands and when she returned she had a needle. I grabbed the examination table to keep from running out into the night and taking off. After a few minutes of feeling a gentle tugging on the back of my leg in several different spots Dr. Martinez spoke up "There we go you are all finished. I am going to carry you into the kitchen and I will seat you at the table. When you are sitting down I want you to put it meaning your leg up on a chair to keep your leg with the stitches off the ground. Then I am going to find those crutches that Ella had to use when she sprained her ankle really bad while playing in a soccer game. You are to use them until about a week after the stitches have all fallen out then you can do with them as you please but until then you are to use them even if you leave."As she said that she picked me up and muttered under her breath at how light I was then started carrying me to the house. "By the way when you mentioned Jeb earlier and I couldn't remember him well I remember him now. He and I are Max's biological parents and he cared a lot for Sammy. She was his baby sister. He didn't know that his company was the group that kidnapped you for about a year and he was really upset about it. I am assuming that he finally had enough of doing experiments on his own niece that he decided to help you to escape. Am I right?"

"Well he said that he was going to start freaking out if I started to look any more like my mom and start calling me Sammy." I said "So yeah I think you struck gold on that assumption." By this point she had gotten to the house and set me in one of the kitchen chairs.

"Put your leg up now," she said and called for Ella. When Ella walked in and asked what she needed Dr. Martinez asked her if she knew where the crutches were and Ella went to get them out of her closet. When Ella returned with the crutches her mom told her to set them by me. Ella did so then went out the door to tell Sarah and Nichol to come in because her mom was making food. About a half hour later we were all sitting at the table and Dr. Martinez set a ton of food on the table.

"Mom, what is with all the food? There are only 5 of us."Ella said "I don't think we will be able to eat all of that."

"Shayne here," Dr. Martinez said in response, "Is like Max and Fang."

"Really?" Ella asked, "Maybe you can show me later."

"Thanks for the secrecy," I said "But Nichol and Sarah have already seen my wings. They were part of the group that found me before when I returned to consciousness. I want to leave to find Max and the others as soon as possible. Do you know where I can find them?"

"Max and Fang split the group up." Ella said, "At least that is what Fang said on his blog. Have you seen it?"

"What is a blog?" I asked curious. "I have heard the term used before when the whitecoat were trying to find the flock when they thought I was passed out from the numerous attacks I have had to endure when I tried to escape. I thought that they were just trying to give me hope that my old friends would come and get me soon. Now I understand that they were talking about using it to hunt them down. Do you have any idea where either of the mini flocks are?"

"By the sound of it Fang is somewhere near Los Angeles with Iggy and the Gasman." Ella said "But as to where Max is at with Angel and Nudge I have no idea. I heard a rumor that they are with Ari at some castle across the sea."

"If they are in some castle across the sea they are not there with Ari." I said "If they are it is either the real thing and the one that was attacking me yesterday is a clone or it is the other way around and they are with a clone." Suddenly my brain attack came back and I screamed again while holding my head to keep it from splitting apart. About 15 minutes later when I looked around I was on the floor with my new friends looking down on me with worry.

"That happened once on the way here." Sarah said "Shayne won't tell me why she keeps doing it. I am not sure if she knows why either. Both times she came out of it she looked kind of confused."

"Jeb warned me that something of the sort would happen every night." I said, "He said something about getting into my head and giving me advice like he does Max. He said to make sure I am on the ground every night at 7:30 or sooner and that it may be hard to sleep because of it. He said it may last for a couple of weeks before it if finished." As I said that I grabbed a plate and filled it with food. I quickly ate that plateful and got another full plate. I had seven full plates of food before I was so full I couldn't eat another bite.

"Wow…." Sarah said.

"You eat more than Max and Fang put together when they were here last." Ella said "They each ate three full plates and then couldn't eat another bite. You on the other hand just ate seven plates at once. That is pretty impressive."

"I always ate more than the other flock members." I said, "Plus only yesterday I just got a new ability. I can shape shift into any animal I want or at least I can once I control my powers better. I've turned into a wolf a cat and a mouse, as well as an eraser."

"You can?!" Ella exclaimed, "If that is true then prove it. I won't believe that you are a shape shifter until you show me. That is if mom will let you do so." With that she looked at her mom and gave her puppy eyes.

"I don't care," Dr. Martinez said "But only if you keep that leg off of the ground. I advise you to make yourself into an animal that can balance on three legs without much trouble."

"Please show me what you can do and I will believe you." Ella said and now Nichol and Sarah were showing interest now. With a sigh I got up and balancing on one leg I willed myself to turn into a wolf. As soon as I thought that I heard my new friends gasp and I felt myself changing once again. After about a minute of balancing on three legs I turned back into my original form.

"That was really cool!" Ella said and Nichol and Sarah nodded in agreement. "I don't care what anyone says your power is the coolest of the powers you, Max and Fang have told me about. Fang's power was kind of creepy. He was unnaturally quiet and snuck up on me and mom almost constantly. Though Max's power of supersonic flight sounded cool you being able to be any animal sounds and is way cool."

After dinner Dr. Martinez told Nichol and Sarah that they could stay the night if their parents said it was alright because they didn't have school in the morning. When they had gotten permission to spend the night and their parents had offered to bring them clothes they started discussing where they would sleep. They decided that they would sleep in Ella's room and when they asked if I wanted to sleep there as well I told them that I would sleep on the couch. In reality I just wanted to feel somewhat secure with the exit nearby and I also wanted to see what Jeb had said my mom had told him to give to me. After everyone was upstairs I grabbed my crutches and went into the kitchen where my back bag had been set by Dr. Martinez I took it with me back to the couch in the living room and sat down. Once I had set my crutches on the ground beside me with my leg situated on the couch I unzipped the front most pocket and reached in. I felt my hand touch something small and cold and when I pulled it out I was holding a small locket on a fine gold chain. When I opened it I saw that there was a small picture of a woman that looked like an older version of me with a man and a smiling baby. Looking at the other side I saw an engraving after looking at it closer I could see what it said. The engraving said "To my precious little daughter taken from me before we knew each other well." After I read it I remembered that Jeb had said to keep it close to my heart and that it would keep me safe. I quickly undid the clasp and managed to fasten it around my neck. I tucked it under my shirt against my skin and within a few minutes I sunk into a dreamless sleep.

The next day I was the first one awake. Grabbing my crutches after changing into new clothes I made my way into the front yard and took off into the sky to fly around for a little bit. After flying around for a few minutes listening to the I-pod that I had found in my bag that I assumed Jeb had given me I turned around gracefully and headed back toward the Martinez's place. As I landed in the yard and quickly put the crutches back under my arm I heard something in the woods and was instantly on the alert. I set my crutches against the wall of the Martinez home and quickly turned into a huge black wolf. Spinning around I saw that there were a group of kids all younger than me standing at the edge of the woods looking at me in surprise and looking uncertain to show themselves out in the open. I don't think that they thought I could see them. When I assessed the situation and decided that these kids were nothing to be worried about I spun back to the house, changed back to my normal form, grabbed the crutches, and took a few steps toward the group.

"Who is there?" I said, "Don't pretend you are not there I can see you. I don't want to hurt you I myself am just visiting this home and planning to leave within the next few days to hunt for some old friends like me."

"Shayne?" one of the kids asked, "Is that you?"

"How do you know who I am?" I asked suddenly suspicious, "And I asked who you were first."

"Shayne, its Maximum Ride." She said and stepped out from under the trees. "We grew up together at the school before Jeb helped me escape. I thought you looked familiar but I couldn't be sure. They switched me out with a clone once so I can't really trust what I see. What are you doing here?"

"Jeb helped me escape as well. Apparently he is my uncle and he says that I look so much like my mom I could be her twin. Dr. Martinez said that my mom was his baby sister and that he cared for her a lot. Jeb told me that if he had to watch me turn into my mother anymore he was going to crack and start calling me Sammy and he couldn't bear to watch me get experimented on. So he caused a distraction and helped me escape. He also gave me a first aid kit, an I-pod, clothes, a bag to carry it all in, and a locket my mom instructed him to give to me if he ever found me."

"Oh yea, we found Shayne and she can turn into a wolf, and now we can be friends with her again and she can join the flock and we can go and find other bird-kids and mphf…..

"Finally," another voice said "I got my hand on her mouth to shut her up. I hate when she talks constantly. It feels like my ears are bleeding when her motor mouth gets into full swing."

"Iggy that is enough." Max snapped, "Shayne we thought that you had been killed a long time ago. That is why we didn't return to try and help you escape. Jeb told us that you had died during an experiment and that was why we left you behind."

"Don't feel bad," I said, "I was told that Jeb had killed you as well. Only about three days ago when Jeb told me that you were still alive I started to hope that you had just been too busy to help me escape. Before that I kept trying to escape so that I wouldn't be experimented on every couple of weeks to no avail. I kept getting captured, brought back, and punished by being attacked by erasers without being able to defend myself. I was normally drugged and tied up then thrown into a room full of erasers with the door locked. They always got me out right before Ari killed me."

"I think your Ari and our Ari are not the same person." Max said, "I Think Your Ari was a clone because our Ari had an expiration date and died when he was helping me, Angel, and Nudge to escape from the Director in Germany's branch of Itex. The School is a branch of Itex as well."

"I was wondering where the Director had been until about three days before my escape." I said, "I also wondered where this Omega person had come from. I hated that guy when I first met him."

"Yep she was in Germany." Max said, "Omega is her pet experiment from Germany. He was engineered to destroy me but I beat him after a hard battle in which Jeb gave me some advice that helped me defeat him." With that we all heard a car pulling into the driveway. Max and the flock retreated into the woods just far enough to blend in with their surroundings and I retreated into the shadows of the house where I could still be seen but only just. Once there I turned into a wolf and sat on the ground teeth bared and growling under my breath. After a minute a car pulled up to the house and Jeb climbed out of the car.


	4. Chapter 6

I've changed up the events a little from the end of Maximum Ride 3 so let me know what you think.

Chapter 6

"Glad to see you made it here alive." Jeb said turning to me still growling in the shadows. "I was wondering when you would arrive here and if you would arrive in one piece."

"Hello Jeb." I said returning to my normal form and grabbing the crutches. "That jerk of a kid of yours nearly ripped my leg off when I tried to escape a few days ago. I made it flying all night long until I nearly passed out in the air. I landed on the ground only to black out in an alley and stay unconscious the whole day. When I came too I was surrounded by a group of kids two of which are how I got here in the first place"

"Shayne," Ella said at that point and coming out the door, "My mom wants to check… Oh hey Jeb we weren't expecting you for a few days. Well anyway Shayne mom want you to head to her exam room in the back so that she can change your bandages and check to make sure it isn't infected from you laying on your ground all day yesterday unconscious. By the way if you are hungry there is a ton of food on the table from when we had breakfast this morning. We expected that you would be back because you had left your bag here so mom went ahead and made a ton of food."

"Thanks Ella." I said, "Tell your mom that I will be in the exam room in a few minutes."

"Ok I'll tell her." Ella said and went back into the house.

"Ok," I said once the door had shut behind her, "I believe you about the fact that you are my uncle but I still refuse to call you that. To me you will always be Jeb. By the way how did you get this locket?" I asked pulling it out from under my hoodie and shirt

"Good you found it." Jeb said. "Your mother gave that to me about a week before she was killed in an accident. Like I told you before your mom gave it to me and told me to give it to you if I ever found you. It was going to be a birthday gift for your 6th birthday but then you were taken from your family. Your mother was heartbroken and she went and had it reengraved. I was upset myself. You see I never knew that it was my coworkers that took you until about a year after you were taken and I didn't want to risk losing my job by taking you. I was afraid that if I was fired you would die or disappear and I would never find you again.

"So you let them do experiments on me?!" I exclaimed, "Nice way to show you love someone. Let's do more experiments on the little kid that was born with wings, let's see if we can give the little bird kid claws as well and maybe even a beak. They did try that you know. It didn't work obviously. They did all that stuff after you left me there and took off on your little adventure with the flock. You ended up leaving the Flock as well. What I want to know is how you can stand being such a coward? You should be ashamed of yourself."

"I am not a coward. I just wanted to make sure that they hadn't killed you and then…." He trailed off as his cell phone started ringing. Pulling the phone out of his pocket he glanced at the caller I.D and sighing he said "I've got to take this so unless you want to be taken back to the school I suggest you be quiet and go see what Dr. Martinez wants."

I nodded and said "This conversation is over for now but I will continue with it later. So don't even try to escape because I will track you down if I have to." As I walked away I heard Jeb say hello and glancing into the woods I saw Max and the rest of the flock follow me still hiding in the woods. Using my wing I communicated to the flock to wait in the woods and that I would meet them there later. I also mouthed that if I couldn't meet them in the woods to go to the little exam room where I was heading and I would meet them there after the Martinez's and Jeb went to sleep. I saw Max nod and turn to tell the flock what I had said. I quickly walked to the small clinic and met Dr. Martinez in the exam room.

"Well lay down on your stomach so I can check your leg." Dr. Martinez said. After about a minute she asked me, "So where did you go this morning? I expected that you had just taken a walk or a fly but do you mind me asking how far you went?"

"I didn't go that far." I said "I just went about 2 miles then turned around. I was just about to go back in when Jeb pulled into the driveway and I started talking to him."

"Ella said that Jeb was here." Dr. Martinez said. "We weren't expecting him here until next weekend. I wonder why he came so early. Did he tell you if it was because you were coming here or for another reason?"

"He didn't say much of anything actually." I said "I did most of the talking. I asked how he could be such a coward. Not only did he leave me his niece and the daughter of his most beloved sister to be a test subject but he left his own daughter to fend for herself and 5 others in my book that makes him a coward. Yeah he told me that Max was his daughter and my cousin but he didn't tell me who her mother is."

"Shayne I am Max's mother as well as Ella's which means that Ella is your cousin as well and that I am your aunt. I had suspicions about Max being my daughter but I wasn't sure until now how to confirm it." At that point Dr. Martinez had unwrapped the bandages around her leg and examined the stitches with Shayne feeling little pinpricks of pain whenever Dr. Martinez touched one of the stitch lines on her leg. "You keep flinching when I touch the stitches, that is really good thing. It means that you are getting some feeling back in your leg. And if you start feeling the pain it means that you are getting total feeling back in your leg and you are to come to me so that I can get you a pain reliever even if it is the middle of the night because it will hurt like hell because you haven't been feeling it. Ok I've got it wrapped up again so you can sit up now." As I sat up I notice that my locket had fallen out from between my hoodie and t-shirt and before I could put it back under my hoodie Dr. Martinez had seen it. "Where did you get that locket? You didn't have it on yesterday when you got here."

"I found it in my bag." I told her, "Jeb told me to look in the front most pocket of my bag when I got the chance and I did so last night after you all had gone to bed. I found this locket in there and put it on this morning when I changed. So are you really telling the truth about being my aunt or are you telling me that just to make me feel normal?"

No I am telling you the truth," Dr. Martinez said. "I was going to marry Jeb when I found out that I was pregnant with Max but then he decided to work for Itex and I broke off the engagement. When Max was born I lived here with her for about three weeks then she was kidnapped from me by one of Jeb's coworkers I assume and then she vanished for 14 years. When she returned here she was injured by a gun that had clipped one of her wings. I also took an x-ray of her arm and saw that she had what looked like a computer chip in her wrist. Like I said a few minutes ago I wasn't sure if she was my long lost daughter so I treated her wound and let her go on her way. About 2 months later she returned with another bird kid she called him Nick when she was around me but when she thought I couldn't hear her she called him Fang and even when she was around me she sometimes called him FNick. I told her that I thought that I could remove the chip with microsurgery and she begged me to do it. I didn't really want to risk her losing the use of her hand so I was hesitant, and then Fang grabbed her wrist flipping it over to show me a jagged scar on her wrist and told me that she had tried cutting it out herself with a piece of broken seashell. He also told me to remove it so that she didn't try something else stupid just to remove the chip. When he showed me the scar Max acted like it was nothing and I automatically decided to remove the chip after all. I removed the chip with no problem but when I told Max to move her fingers she couldn't move them. I felt really guilty and she left yet again now minus the use of one hand. I haven't seen her for a few months now so I hope she got to where she was going without mishap."

"Were you really going to marry Jeb?" I asked, "No offence but if you were you had a really bad taste in guys. At least that is my opinion."

"Yes I was." Dr. Martinez said. "We sated thorough most of high school and college. I thought we would be happy together but as I mentioned before he decided to join Itex which I disapproved of." At that point the door opened and Jeb walked through the door with red eyes.

"The Director just called me. She informed me that my son was just found dead in some castle courtyard in Germany of all places. I just saw him earlier for god's sake. I am starting to think that the one I have been told is my son is a clone or something. By what you keep telling me he keeps doing to you Shayne it makes me even more suspicious. The Ari I raised is a lot better behaved. Do you mind showing me your leg Shayne? If you don't want to show me I understand."

"Come on Jeb," I told him, "I may not trust you with my life but I trust you enough to show you my leg." With that I turned around and walked back into the exam room followed closely behind by Jeb and Dr. Martinez. I lay back down on the exam table and felt Dr. Martinez unwrap my leg again. Once she had removed the wrap entirely I heard Jeb exclaim in shock more than anything then he started cussing under his breath.


	5. Chapter 7

Story of a bird kid 5

Chapter 7

After a few minutes Jeb finished cussing and simply told Dr. Martinez to wrap my leg back up. After a few minutes Jeb started talking to me again.

"Shayne you were right." He told me, "He did nearly rip off your leg. I just thought that you were trying to make me feel bad."

"Hey Shayne," Ella asked walking through the door as her mom finished wrapping up my leg. "Why is your shirt that you had on yesterday covered in blood on the back did you use it to clean up your leg a bit?"

"There is blood on my shirt?" I asked turning toward the door, "There shouldn't be unless, Hey Ella did you bring the shirt with you?"

"Yes I did."Ella said pulling the shirt out of a bag. "Do you want to see it?"

"Yes please." I told her and she quickly walked to me and handed me the shirt. Turning the shirt so that I could see the back I noticed that it was ripped just enough to be barely noticeable. "It has blood on it because I think that Ari got a hold of my back as well just not as good as he did my leg." As soon as I said that Dr. Martinez quickly pulled my shirt up my back.

"Shayne," She asked." Does your back hurt at all?" I shook my head no and asked why. "He may have not gotten your back as bad as your leg but that injury is the potentially more dangerous one because it is infected."

"It's infected?" I asked, "Funny I normally feel it when I get injured but I don't really remember him getting a hold of my back I remember a gentle tugging on my back then a searing pain in my leg before I instinctively sent a snap kick at his head that hit him square in the nose. I most likely broke his nose but I don't really care after all the times he beat me senseless when I couldn't defend myself because I was drugged and tied up, and I also don't care because it got him to let go of me so that I could escape."

"Did he really do that to you? Beat you up when you were helpless? " Ella asked and I nodded in answer. "How could someone be so cruel? No offense Jeb but your son is a huge jerk. By the way mom Sarah and Nichol and I wanted to know if we could go to the movies in Phoenix and we were thinking of inviting Shayne along as well because she is our friend now and by the sound of it she has never been to the movies before."

"I don't care about you going to the movies but I am not going to allow you to take Shayne with you because her back is infected and because she was injured without knowing it for a day and a half and has been laying on the ground and on the couch instead of on a bed like she is supposed to without a covering of any sort."

"Ok then." Ella said. "Shayne get better soon because I want you to go to a movie with me before you go. By the way Mom can I have some money"

"Yeah here you go." Dr. Martinez said and handed Ella a 20 from her pocket. "Now what are you planning on doing after the movie? Are you staying at Sarah or Nichols or are they dropping you off later?"

"Hold on let me ask Sarah what the plan is." Ella said and quickly ran to the house. After a few minutes she came back and said, "Mom, Sarah said that I could stay at her house if I wanted so now it's up to you."

"I'll see you tomorrow then have fun." Dr. Martinez said then turned back to Shayne and Jeb. "Now Shayne since Ella isn't coming home until tomorrow you are sleeping in her room tonight. As for the infection I am going to give you an antibiotic to fight the infection and it should heal in about a week unless like Max and Fang you heal really quickly regardless then it may take only about a day or two. Now I am going in to make lunch because since you didn't eat breakfast you are probably starving. Jeb are you hungry as well?"

"Yeah I could go for lunch." Jeb said, "So do you know how long it will take for you to make food. I haven't eaten anything since yesterday morning before I told Shayne that I had a plan to help her escape."

"Oh Jeb." Dr, Martinez said, "You are worse than Ella is about eating regular meals. Because Shayne is an avian human hybrid she like Max eats a lot more than a normal human so I need to make a meal large enough to feed a huge family so the meal will be ready in about half an hour. If you want to eat something before that there is food in the fridge for you to eat. Now Shayne I am going to give you a quick anti-body shot and then you can head inside to the house."

"Great more needles." I groaned and said, "Let's hurry up and get this over with before I freak out and hurt someone. I can't stand the smell of chemicals and other scents, and I can't stand needles thanks to all those stupid whitecoats doing experiments on me constantly as I grew up in that stupid school."

"I'll work as quickly as I can." Dr. Martinez said, "I need to sanitize a spot on you back so you will feel a sting and then I need to find a vain to stick the needle into and then you will be finished and you can head inside."

"Fine" I said and lay down on the table once again grabbing the sides only this time in a death grip to prevent myself from running out the door swinging at anything that moved and hurting Jeb or Dr. Martinez in the process. Within seconds I felt a burning sensation in a small spot of my back and then what felt like a pinch in the center of that spot and a few seconds later Dr. Martinez pulled my shirt all the way back down my back and told me I could head back. Once she told me that I quickly grabbed my crutches and left the exam room leaving Jeb and Dr. Martinez behind. As I left the room to go to the house I heard Angel in my mind ask what had happened and I told her that I would explain later. I went into the house just as Ella walked out the door with Sarah and Nichol.

"See ya Shayne," Sarah said

"Yeah catch you later Shayne," Nichol said

"I'll see you tomorrow Shayne." Ella said, "Remember to get better soon so we can go to a movie together."

"Yeah," I said, "I'll keep that in mind and I'll see you guys around soon." With that they left and I went and sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. After flipping through the channels and settling on a Bugs Bunny cartoon I noticed that Jeb and Dr. Martinez hadn't come in yet. I grabbed my crutches and headed back towards the back door. As I got to the door I saw that the annoying dog was sleeping by the door and was instantly on the alert. I walked out the door about 10 steps and was grabbed from behind.

"Well well I caught myself a little birdie," I heard a familiar voice say and then I heard an evil chuckle, I froze in place planning my next move carefully. After about a minute I put my full plan into action.


	6. Chapter 8

I decided to use different POV'S and in honor of the new Twilight Movie that came out in November I will start making this story a sort of twilight crossover but it will still be a basic Maximum Ride fan fiction so R&R and let me know what you think.

Story of a bird kid 8

As soon as I had my full plan I put it into motion praying to whatever gods there are that it would work. I quickly turned into a snake and slithered out of the grip of the person who had captured me. I moved several feet away and spun to face Omega and Ari. As I turned I turned into my wolf form once again and leapt straight at Ari without hesitation growling and snarling like I had Rabies. I would have gotten a hold of his throat to rip it out if Omega hadn't suddenly grabbed me and threw me against a tree. Suddenly I was fighting for my life on pure animal instinct like I was an eraser. Omega delivered a kick to my stomach that had me doubling over gasping for breath and then he jumped into attack mode and everything went black.

Max pov

I saw Ari and Omega drop out of the sky and attack Dr. Martinez and Jeb as they were walking toward the house. Once they had them unconscious Omega dragged Jeb and Dr. Martinez back into the exam room shutting the door behind them then he and Ari knocked the dog out and settled by the door to wait for Shayne to come back out to see where Jeb and Dr. Martinez had gone. After a few minutes I saw Shayne opened the door and glanced at the unconscious dog and stiffen automatically on the alert. She stepped out the door cautiously. Once she had gone several steps into the yard Ari grabbed her from behind.

"Well well I caught myself a little birdie."Ari said and Omega laughed evilly.

Instead of starting to fight for her life like I would Shayne just froze. After about a minute of standing still a snake had replaced Shayne and slid out of Ari stunned grip. After it slithered several feet away it suddenly spun and the wolf from earlier appeared jumping straight at Ari growling like a crazy wolf.

"Max," Fang said "Shayne is a shape shifter and a strong one at that."

"I know. And she looks and sounds pissed as well." As I said that Omega moved in front of Ari, grabbed Shayne, and threw her against a tree. Shayne suddenly turned into an eraser with wings and was fighting for her life. Omega suddenly snap kicked her in the stomach causing her to double over gasping for breath. As soon as he saw her doubled over Omega went into attack mode and jumped on her. He delivered a hard punch to her head and I saw Shayne fall to the ground and not move. As Omega was about to break her neck and kill her I jumped out of the trees and caught him in the side. Waving my hand in his face I quickly sent him sprawling to the ground gasping for breath.

"Where the hell did you come from?!!" Ari exclaimed,

"I was hiding in the trees and you guys just tried to kill my friend." I said and spun, kicking Omega who had tried to attack me from the rear. I glanced over and saw that Fang had dragged Shayne who was unconscious to the tree line and was trying to revive her. I signaled to the rest of the flock to let them know to attack Ari before he had the chance to attack me as well. Suddenly Nudge was on Ari and attacking him. Again I glanced toward Shayne and Fang and noticed that Fang was helping Shayne who was back to her normal form to stand up, once he had her up and standing Shayne shook her head turning back into her human form and grabbing the crutches went a few feet away and stood watching me battle.

Shayne pov

When I came back to consciousness the first thing I saw was Fang standing over me looking concerned. Once I had returned to full consciousness Fang grabbed me by the arm and helped me off the ground. Once I was standing up I shook my head to clear it and grabbing my crutches from Fang I moved a few steps away and watched Max and Nudge battle. After a few minutes Nudge looked like she was about to pass out so I jumped in leaving my crutches lying on the ground and attacking Ari in my eraser form. Not expecting another eraser Nudge got ready to attack me when I quickly transformed into my original form before she had a chance to do so and quickly turned back to my eraser form. Within a matter of seconds Nudge and I had beat the crap out of Ari and left him lying on the ground unconscious then we turned to see if Max needed help to fight Omega. Seeing that she had matters well in hand we walked over to Fang, me leaning my weight on Nudge but trying not to do so at the same time.

"Crap that hurt my leg."I said and Fang once again handed me the crutches

Fang pov

As Max jumped in to fight Omega to keep him from killing Shayne, I jumped into the clearing and quickly picked Shayne up and took her to the edge of the trees out of harm's way.

"Where the Hell did you come from?!!"A stunned Ari asked Max.

"I was hiding in the trees and you guys just tried to kill my friend." I faintly heard Max say and then I glanced at her just in time to see her spin and catch Omega in the stomach with a nice solid kick. As I saw her knock Omega back a few steps with the force of her kick I turned back to Shayne and started to try to revive her. I also saw Max signal to us that she needed help and Nudge jumped in to attack Ari with the full force of her power.

After a little under a minute Shayne groaned and came back to consciousness. I decided to not touch her until she was aware of her surrounding in case she like Max and Iggy swung at anything that woke her up when she wasn't expecting to be woken up. Once she was fully conscious I helped her to stand up. Once I had her on her feet Shayne shook her head, grabbed her crutches from where I had been holding them and went a few steps to watch Max battle. After a few minutes I saw that Nudge was struggling with Ari and apparently Shayne saw it too. Before I could stop her I saw Shayne transform into an eraser and jump in to assist Nudge. I saw Nudge turn and get ready to attack her right as I saw Shayne quickly turn into her original form and back again. Within about 3 seconds Shayne and Nudge had Ari on the ground unconscious, and turned to see if Max needed any help fighting. Once they saw that Max was doing fine on her own Shayne and Nudge came over to me Shayne trying to not put any weight on Nudge but not succeeding. Once they got over to me Shayne spoke up

"Crap that hurt my leg." She said and I handed her crutches back to her. Then we settled in to watch Max do battle with Omega.

Shayne pov

Once I had taken my crutches from Fang and settled in to watch Max fight I heard someone in the exam room and headed over to check it out. As I opened the door I heard a groan and flung the door open. Dr. Martinez was helping Jeb to sit up but having trouble keeping on her feet so I went and helped. Once I had Dr. Martinez and Jeb sitting on the tiny table that I myself had been laying on not that long ago I asked what had happened.

"Ari," Jeb said, "He dropped from the sky with Omega and then they hit us over the head. The next thing I know Dr. Martinez is trying to help me up off of this floor and you came out of nowhere and helped up both sit down. By the way where are your crutches?"

"Relax they are on the floor from where I was helping you guys up." With that I turned around balancing on my one good leg and went over to pick them up and put them back under my arms.

"Shayne what did you do?" Dr. Martinez asked suddenly, "Why is your head bleeding?"

"It is?" I asked and touched the tender spot on my head from where Omega had punched me and knocked me unconscious. When I pulled my hand away it did have blood on it. "Oh Ari and Omega attacked me as well but I am fine. Omega punched me in the head. I am sick and tired of him hurting me; I had enough of it at the school. The next time I meet him he is going to get a dose of his own medicine."

"Shayne let me look at your head."Dr. Martinez said, "It may need stitches."

"I'm fine." I told her, "I've had my head split open before. It heals within about an hour. It's been about 10 to 15 minutes since it first happened. Give it a good 45 minutes and it should be fully healed or nearly healed."

"How often have you been injured?" Dr. Martinez asked me "I may want to take you to the hospital and have a full MRI or CAT scan.

"How often have I been injured?"I asked and Dr. Martinez nodded, "The truth is that I have been injured too many times to count and most of that in the past few years from when I tried to escape on my own." As I said that I heard the Flock cheering and then Max freaking out asking where I was. Fang as usual told her to calm down and that I was fine and that I had just gone in to the exam room.

'Shayne' I heard Angel say in my mind, 'Max is mad at you and is coming into the exam room to yell at you. Be prepared for her to come in with a temper, you may also want to let Jeb and the lady know that she is coming.'

'OK thanks Angel.' I said back

"Jeb," I said "I think I should tell you that Max is mad at me for coming in here and is heading this way to yell at me. Don't be surprised if she comes in guns blazing. You know how she gets when she is mad."

"Max is here?" Jeb asked, "How do you know that and how long have you known"

"Yes Max is here." I said, "I know that she is here because I was talking to her and she's been here a few minutes longer than you have, so I've known since right before you got here. I know she is coming in here because Angel just told me that she is coming here to yell at me for leaving to come in here." At that moment Max practically kicked the door down.

"Shayne what in the world were you thinking coming in here without letting us know!" Max shouted, "You are lucky that Fang saw you come in here otherwise we wouldn't know where you were! I don't want to lose you again. I cried myself to sleep when I was younger because I thought you had really died. To tell you the truth I still wake up at night from having nightmares about how you died."

"Max I am sorry that I came in here without telling one of you," I said "but you need to calm down. The day before yesterday I nearly killed Jeb because I had been told that he was the one who had killed you. Then he told me that you were still alive and that he was my uncle. Max I believe him as well. You know how I always had the ability to tell if someone was lying to me and seeing as I didn't pick up that Jeb was lying to me I have to believe him. The white coats that told me that he had killed you either believed that he had killed you or found a way for me to not pick up on the fact that they were lying. Seeing as that Jeb had not been lying to the point that I could pick it up then he is my uncle. And if that is true then you are my cousin."

"Is that really the true?" Max asked turning to Jeb, "Is Shayne my cousin?"

"Yes she is." Jeb said. "I assume that you now believe that I am indeed your father and that Dr. Martinez is you biological mother. And that before you went blonde from flying constantly in the sun that your brown hair and Shayne's brown hair were the exact same shade wasn't a coincidence."

"Yes I do," Max said. "As much as it saddens me to say it I do believe that you were telling me the truth. But Jeb I am telling you that there is no way in hell that I am calling you dad for any reason."

"That is fine by me." Jeb said, "Shayne is refusing to call me uncle as well so you are not the only one. I honestly don't blame you I haven't exactly been there for you and I haven't always treated you like I should have. As long as you have acknowledged that I am related to you by blood."

"I had suspicions that you were my long lost daughter" Dr. Martinez said. "I wasn't sure that you were until Jeb told me just now that you were. So now I can say Welcome home Max, when Ella gets home tomorrow she will be so happy. She always wanted a sister and now she has a half sister and a half cousin in the same day. Now is Fang here? If he is tell him to come on in and meet Shayne and to come talk with us."

"Ummmmm," Max said, "There isn't just me and Fang. If you don't mind I think that it would be a good Idea to go outside or at least into the house because there are about 4 others and a dog now so it will be a crowd. With Shayne there are 5 others and a dog so unless this place is expandable then I know for a fact that we won't all fit."

"She is right," Jeb said, "We won't all fit in here. I should also let you know that Shayne has already met those that you are about to meet except for Total the dog."

"Great now that that is settled," I said "lets head outside to meet the others and get out of here I am about to go crazy in here with the smells."

"Yes I agree with Shayne." Max said, "I never liked this place anyways. It reminds me too much of the school." With that we both headed for the door Dr. Martinez and Jeb following behind us.

Fang pov

I saw Shayne slip away into the exam room and didn't think anything of it I just figured that she had gone to get out of the way of the battle and to check on Dr. Martinez and Jeb who I had just remembered had been dragged in there by Ari and Omega. Max on the other hand freaked out when she finished kicking Omega's butt

"Where is Shayne at?!!!!" Max yelled mostly at me "Why didn't you keep an eye on her she could have been taken by erasers and you wouldn't have even noticed!! Now we have to go and find her".

"Max calm down." I told her, "Shayne is fine; she just went into the exam room to check on Jeb and Dr. Martinez. I saw her go in and didn't think any more of it."

"Oh she is so dead." Max said, "I am going to go in there and give her a piece of my mind." With that Max spun on her heels and started walking toward the exam room.

'Angel give Shayne a heads up so she can be prepared for the incoming showdown.' After a few minutes Angel answered with

'Shayne has received the message and is warning Jeb as we speak. All we can do know is wait them out.'

When Max walked in we heard her yelling from all the way from outside

"Shayne what in the world were you thinking coming in here without letting us know?!!!" Max shouted, "You are lucky that Fang saw you come in here otherwise we wouldn't know where you were!! I don't want to lose you again." Then her voice got quieter, "I cried myself to sleep when I was younger because I thought you had really died. To tell you the truth I still wake up at night from having nightmares about how you died."

"Max I am sorry that I came in here without telling one of you," Shayne said, "But you need to calm down. The day before yesterday I nearly killed Jeb because I had been told he was the one that had killed you. Then he told me that you were still alive and that he was my uncle. Max I believe him as well. You know how I always had the ability to tell if someone was lying to me, and seeing as I didn't pick up that Jeb was lying to me I have to believe him. The white coats that told me that he had killed you either believed that he had killed you or found out about my ability and figured out a way for me not to pick up on the fact that they were lying. Seeing as Jeb had not been lying to the point that I could pick it up then he is my uncle. And if that is true then you are my cousin."

"Is that really true?" Max suddenly asked "Is Shayne my cousin?"

"Yes she is."Jeb confessed. "I assume that you now believe that I am indeed your father and that Dr. Martinez is you biological mother. And that before you went blonde from flying constantly in the sun that your brown hair and Shayne's brown hair were the exact same shade wasn't a coincidence."

Yes I do." Max said in answer, "As much as it saddens me to say it I do believe that you were telling me the truth. But Jeb I am telling you that there is no way in hell that I am calling you dad for any reason." After that Iggy, Nudge, Gassy, and Angel lost interest and we started to plan a short flight around the woods until Max and Shayne came out. Right before we took off I stopped because I heard Max say something.

"Yes I agree with Shayne." Max said, "I never liked this place anyways. It reminds me too much of the school." Then Max and Shayne walked outside to rejoin us and Jeb and Dr. Martinez came close behind the two cousins. As Dr Martinez shut and locked the door a scream rent the air and all chaos broke loose.


	7. Chapter 9

Story of a bird kid 7

**Angel pov**

As Dr. Martinez shut and locked the door to the exam room behind them I heard a scream in my head that out of shock made me scream as well as I dropped to the ground trying to block it. Once I finally succeeded in blocking out the scream I looked around and saw Max, Shayne, and Fang as well as Jeb and Dr. Martinez were all looking at me in concern.

"Angel what is wrong?!!" Shayne and Max both shouted

"Angel why were you screaming like you were having a brain explosion? Shayne asked "I was screaming like that twice yesterday.

"Sorry about worrying you guys like that." I said, "But the reason I was screaming like that was because someone is in pain and screaming in their head. I picked up on it and it shocked me which is why I started screaming. I dropped to the ground because I was trying to block out the screaming. I don't know who it is but someone is nearby and in pain!" With that I jumped into the air and tool off in the general direction of where I thought the scream was coming from ignoring Max, Shayne and Fang's shouted warnings. Within a few minutes I was in the sky and I saw someone lying on the ground wreathing in pain as I landed beside her with Max and Shayne landing beside me I noticed that she was a girl about the same age as Shayne. As I landed I tried to see what was causing the girl to scream all I noticed was two puncture wounds on her neck. As I landed and hit the ground on my knees I heard someone yell to stay away. With a quick glance around I didn't see anyone around except for Shayne and Max, and then out of nowhere a dark haired girl and a dark haired boy that looked a few years older than Shayne were standing beside us. I jumped into the sky and was closely followed by Shayne and Max.

"Come down we won't hurt you." The boy said. "Alice, I am assuming that these are the winged kids you warned us about that were in danger."

"Yes Edward they are." Alice said, "They already know that they are being followed by scientists but I don't see how they could know about the Volturi."

"Who are the Volturi?" Shayne asked, and looked at me in confusion. I read Alice's mind and shivered at what I saw about the Volturi and I sent those thoughts to Shayne as well. "Oh my god. They are worse than those scientists at the school were. I don't know how but I think I've seen them before in my dreams, but I haven't had that dream for a few years."

"Wait you've seen them before?" Alice asked looking at me. "Can you recall that dream you use to have about them? By the way how do you know who we are talking about and how do you know what they look like?"

"Angel can read minds." Shayne said as an explanation and the one named Edward looked at me questionably. "She read your mind and then sent those thought's you had about them to me. As to the question about if I can recall those dreams I used to have the answer is yes. Those dreams scared the crap out of me then and I still am kind of scared of them though I haven't had them for about 2 years."

"Really?" Edward asked turning back to Shayne. "Can you describe those dreams to me and Alice? Like Bella I can't seem to read your thoughts which means you are also a shield."

Shayne POV

Really?" The boy named Edward asked turning back towards me after looking at Angel "Can you describe those dreams to me and Alice? Like Bella I can't seem to read your thoughts which means you are also a shield"

"Yeah I can." I said, "But first can you please tell me who Bella is. And what in the world is a shield?"

"Sure." Alice said, "Bella is Edward's wife who is like us and a shield is like a force field but it mostly just surrounds a person's form but can be extended to protect other people as well with a lot of work and practice."

"OK thanks for the explanation." I said shivering from the memory of the dream, "The dreams always started the same way. I was flying around with Max and the others and then suddenly I was all alone. Once I realize that I am alone I land in a clearing in some woods kind of like these and I see this little shack that I decide to spend the night in until Max and the others can catch up to me. I turn into an animal and I go to sleep. That part always confused me until a few nights ago. Well anyway the dream goes dark for a while and then my dream self wakes up from a light sleep from a sound that I am not quite sure what it is. It sounds like someone running very fast and then the door of the shack is flung open and these 3 men with nearly transparent skin fling open the door and try to capture me and for some reason I hear paws running across the ground towards the shack. I somehow make it outside without getting bitten and when I get out there is a huge pack of giant wolves and I turn into a black one and join the pack. Then there is a huge army of really fast people that join this pack turning into quite a large army/pack deal and come to think of it you two are there as well. Then once your army of people joined us we attack the 3 with their transparent skin and suddenly out of nowhere they had their own army of really fast people. We all fought valiantly but their army was so strong and they ended up defeating our army until out of nowhere a little girl came with another giant wolf and helped us. When the battle was over I was injured quite badly and ended up returning to my normal form with my wings out and slightly hurt, and one of the wolves somehow turns into a boy around my age and asks me if I am ok. I say yes and then he tells me his name is Mathew and I tell him my name and then he becomes my body guard of sorts. A few days later I am still in the shack with Mathew and Max and the others catch up to me and then Mathew tries to attack them thinking they mean to hurt me and then I tell him that Max and the other's are my friends and then at that point I always wake up."

"Alice," Edward said, "That sounds like the same basic thing you had in your vision as well as the time when we had to fight the Volturi when they thought that we had started creating the little children after Bella was first turned."

"You're right Edward." Alice said. "I think that Shayne needs to meet Carlisle and the others. Let's grab Sarah and go. Hold on, before we do that. Shayne in my vision there were at least 3 other kids with wing's like yours. Where are they at, and do you have any clothes to take with you or is what you are wearing all that you have?"

"You're right." I said, "There are 3 others. They are at the house I have been staying at. As for clothes I have a book bag full of clothes at that house as well. If you let me go back and get the other's I will run into the house and grab my bag from the front room as well and then I will come back to meet these other people. By the way you are not human's so what are you?"

"I'll let you go back and get the others and your stuff if you promise to come back. As to the question about what we are, you are right we aren't human. We are vampires like the Volturi but we are different from others of our kind. Yes most vampires do drink human blood but we are different because we only drink animal blood from deer, mountain lion, and any other large animal which enables us to live in a place for an extended period of time. Most of our kind are nomad's always traveling to different places to keep the fact that vampires do actually exist in real life and not just in mythology. If humans, normal human's that is start getting suspicious that is where the Volturi come in. The Volturi are kind of the royalty of the vampire's. If they get involved they normally just send one of their guard's. Their guard's are normally vampires like me and Edward that have special abilities. Or if I am assuming correctly they hunt down humans that would probably if turned become vampires with special abilities. Is that enough of an explanation for you?"

"Yes it is thank you." I said, "I'll be back in a few minutes with the others so see you then." With that I did an up and away and took off back toward Dr. Martinez's house.

When I landed in the yard everyone asked me where I had been and where Max and Angel were. I told them that we had meet some people that wanted to help us to escape the whitecoats that were chasing after us and that Max and Angel were still with them. Max told me to tell you to come with me and to hurry up. Once Iggy, Gassy and Nudge had agreed to come I ran inside grabbed my mom's old bag that was now mine and ran back outside. Just as I was about to do an up and away Jeb said my name and motioned for me to come with him.

"Hey guys," I said, "I'll be right back." Then I followed Jeb to the side of the house.

"Shayne, I really don't want you to leave so soon I was planning on taking you to see your dad tomorrow, he lives in Phoenix and I know that he would really enjoy seeing you again. Are you sure you have to go?" Jeb asked and I nodded in response. "Well then in that case I wanted to give you this. I bought it for you on the way here. I bought you a plan that gives you unlimited access to the internet, and unlimited calling and texting." With that he pulled out an Envy 2 and gave it to me, as I grabbed it he pulled me into a huge hug and told me to be careful. As I turned around to go back to the Flock so that we could leave Jeb once again said my name, turning back around to face Jeb he said, "I have my cell number, Dr. Martinez's home, cell, and office number, Ella's cell number, and your dad's cell number and home number in your contacts list. I also disabled your gps system so that if the Director figures out that I bought you a phone she can't use it to track you. If you want to call your dad wait until the day after tomorrow to do so. And remember to be on the ground every night by 7:00 so that you can have time to eat and anything else before I start trying to get in your head. Now go join the rest of your flock and get going."

"Thanks Jeb." I said and returned to the group. "Thanks for letting me stay Dr. Martinez. Tell Ella I said I was sorry for leaving before we could go to the movies."

"I will." Dr. Martinez said, "Here take this it is another first aid kit but it includes medicine for your infected back and bandages for your leg and numerous other things. By the way are you going to take those crutches like I told you to do because remarkably you seem to not be having any trouble at all with that leg of yours?"

"No I don't really need them." I said, "We are going to be flying most of the day and at night we should be sleeping. If my leg starts acting up I'll just get some pain medicine at a pharmacy or something. Now we need to get going." With that I turned to the other three and said "let's go. Iggy once we get into the air start flying right or just let me get in the front and touch my foot got that?"

"Yep," Iggy said, "Fly right or grab your foot gently."

"Ok," I said, "Up and away on the count of 3. One, two, three let's get out of here." With that I jumped into the air followed by Nudge and the others. Iggy flew up beside me and hit my wingtip with his so that he would be able to tell if I changed direction even slightly. "I should tell you guys that I didn't tell you the entire truth about where we are going. Max didn't tell you to come but it would be a really good idea. The people I said wanted to help us don't want to help us to escape from the whitecoats they want to help us escape from a group of people known as the Volturi. Even calling them people is a major understatement. They are really a coven of vampires. The two that want to help us are also members of a vampire coven. Turns out that that nightmare I used to have all the time was about these Volturi coming to get me for some odd reason."

"Shayne," Nudge said, "If the people that are trying to help us are vampires then shouldn't we be afraid of them. I mean that vampires drink human blood don't they? I saw a movie about them when we stayed at a hotel a few weeks ago, and the vampire kept capturing ladies and drinking their blood. In the end the main human character ends up killing the evil vampire but not for a long time after he keeps killing women and…."

"Nudge shut up and let me explain," I snapped, starting to lose my patients. "You are right. Vampires do drink human blood, but the ones that are trying to help us are different than normal vampires. Alice and Edward are members of a coven that don't drink human blood. They survive on animal blood to keep their thirst quenched. They are as safe as vampire's can be around humans or in our case part humans. Do any of you guys remember that I used to have nightmares when we were younger?"

"Yeah I do." Iggy said. "You were always waking us up every single night at around midnight because you would start to cry and scream in your sleep and wouldn't stop until you woke yourself up. Max, Fang and I all tried to wake you up at least once every single night but you wouldn't wake up until you were ready. Those nightmares were always about 3 men with nearly transparent skin that tried to capture you for some reason right?"

"Yeah that is right." I said, "Now I know that those three men were the Volturi and that they were trying to capture me. If what Alice and Edward said was true then they are trying to capture the entire flock to turn us into vampires with special abilities. Ok there is a clearing coming up Nudge why don't you go ahead and land. Max and Angel should be down there with Alice and Edward. Iggy drop back with Nudge and follow her down to the ground. Once you are down tell Max that I'll be right back I need to do something before I land as well. Do you guys get that?"

"Yes we do." Nudge Gassy and Iggy all said and I took off really quickly ignoring Angel calling out my name with her mind. I flew about three miles away and landed in the alley that I had crash landed in before I had been taken to Dr. Martinez's house. Once I landed I looked around and checked that I hadn't left anything behind then reaching into my pocket I pulled out my new phone and sent a quick text to Jeb asking what I was going to do about money. After a minute Jeb sent me a text letting me know that there was a wallet in my bag that had a few credit cards in it. The text also told me that the codes were Sammy and eagle. I sent him a text back telling him thanks and stuck my phone back into my pocket and dug through my bags pockets until I found the wallet that not only had an identification badge and credit cards in it but some money in it as well. Counting out the money I found out that Jeb had given me $20.00 in cash. After I had put the money back into my wallet and put the wallet into the pocket of the hoodie I pulled out of my bag and slid on to cover my wings, I walked onto the main street. I looked around and not seeing a bank or ATM walked up to a girl a few years older than me in appearance.

"Excuse me," I said, "I am just passing through the area and I am trying to locate the bank or an ATM for my parents. Do you think you could tell me where they are so I can get money out for my parents?"

"Yeah sure." The girl said turning around to face me. "Hey aren't you the bird girl Sarah and Nikki took to the Martinez's house yesterday?" Then most likely because of the expression on my face she said. "Yeah you are. Don't worry none of us told our parents your secret is safe. How are you going to get money out if I take you to an ATM? I will not let you break the law. Because my father is the Sherriff here I can't let you because my dad would kill me if he found out that I helped you steal money."

"I've got cards I can use." My uncle gave them to me before I left California. "They are mine because they have my name on them and I know the codes as well even though I didn't sign any papers or anything."

"Ok," the girl said, "My name is Emily Seville and do you mind me asking what your name is so I don't have to keep calling you bird girl."

"Why not," I said, "My name is Shayne Rider. Now Emily could you please tell me where I can find an ATM?"

"Yeah," Emily said, "Follow me and I'll take you to the supermarket. There is an ATM inside." With that she took off down the street me slightly limping after her. "Hey Shayne, should you be walking around on that leg of yours? It looked really bad yesterday, all bloody like you had been cut really badly."

"My leg is fine." I said, "It's just really sore and kind of painful it was sliced up but not too badly. Believe me when I say I've had worse in the past month alone. My body heals really quickly because of my avian DNA. Avian is the scientific word for…"

"Avian is the scientific word for bird, I know." Emily interrupted, "I took Veterinary Science last semester at school. I want to get into Vet school when I graduate next year. Dr. Martinez is a really good Vet I did an interview with her for an English assignment last month. Well this is the supermarket. Once you walk into the store head straight back and the ATM is there. Nice to meet you, if you ever find yourself back in this area stop by my house and drop in to pay me a visit. Do you have a cell phone? If you do can I see it to add my number to your contacts list?"

"Yeah here it is." I said pulling my phone out of my pocket and handing it to her, "It's brand new so I don't know how to work it exactly; I just got it less than an hour ago."

"Is this an Envy 2?" Emily asked," "Those just started selling in the past year so they are still quite expensive. Plus this phone's GPS has been turned off and has special settings. Whoever bought this phone for you has plenty of money to spare. Here my number is now in your contacts list so give me a call sometime soon."

"Ok thanks." I said, "I'll give you a call later tonight."


	8. Chapter 10

_**Story of a Bird Kid 10**_

**SHAYNE POV**

Once Emily had given me my phone back and asked me to call her I told her I'd do so later. Then I went into the store and went to the ATM. Once I was there I pulled my wallet out of my hoodie and pulled out one of my credit cards. Once I had put the card into the ATM it asked me for my pin code. I typed in Sammy and it said that it was the incorrect code so then I typed in eagle and it accepted. I took out almost $500.00 and then started shopping for food and other essentials. After about 15 minutes I went and paid for the stuff I was going to buy and put as much of it as possible into my backpack. The rest I just carried in a couple bags. I went into the closest alley and taking off my hoodie I cut holes into the back so I could wear it while I was flying and still be able to use my wings. Once I had done that and put the hoodie back on I pulled out my phone and put it in my bag so I wouldn't drop it on accident when I was in the air, then I jumped into the air and headed back to the flock and the vampires. As I flew I put in my I-pod headphones in and turned it up so I could listen to music. After what seemed like only a couple of minutes I saw the clearing in which the flock was waiting and landed pulling my headphones out of my ears as I did so. As soon as I landed Max was on my case like fleas to a dog.

"Where did you go and where did you find money to buy stuff?" Max asked yelling at me again for the second time that day. "Alice couldn't see what you were planning and we were getting ready to fly after you to see if we could locate you. Now are you going to answer…? Seriously where did you get the money for all that food? That is enough food for all of us to eat a really good meal for the next day or two." She asked as I started pulling the stuff out of my bag as well

"Jeb" I said still unpacking the stuff I had put in my bag without looking up, "I thought he told you that he was my uncle. He told me when he helped me to escape from the school that I reminded him of his favorite sister who was my mother. I think he feels kind of guilty about letting all the white coats do experiments on his little sister's daughter and he repaid me as best as he can by buying me an I-pod and quite a few other things. I think he is still feeling guilty so I think he also gave me two credit cards and an Envy 2."

"Wow," Max said, "Jeb obviously loves you more than he does me. He got me a single credit card when we were in New York City looking for the Institute but that is all he's ever given me beside's an annoying voice in my head that throws its opinion into my head when I least need it."

"You know as well as I do that you thinking he doesn't love you is just you lying to yourself." I said, "Now who wants to eat before we leave?"

"I DO!!!!!" Angel, Nudge, and Gassy yelled and we all sat down to eat.

**Nudge POV**

As Max started yelling at Shayne demanding as she so often does where Shayne had been and where she had gotten money Shayne sat down the bags in her hands and pulled off her backpack. Once she had sat down her bags Shayne started unpacking can after can of food, drinks and other thing's Max calmed down out of shock And once again asked in a nicer voice,

"Seriously where did you get the money for all that food? That is enough food for all of us to eat a really good meal for the next day or two."

"Jeb" Shayne replied while still pulling out cans, plates, silverware, and other things, "I thought he told you that he was my uncle. Well he told me when he helped me to escape from the school that I reminded him of his favorite sister who was my mother. I think he feels kind of guilty about letting all the white coats do experiments on his little sister's daughter and he repaid me as best as he can by buying me an I-pod and quite a few other things. I think he is still feeling guilty so I think he also gave me two credit cards and an Envy 2."

"Wow," Max said trying hard to not show how upset she really was, "Jeb obviously loves you more than he does me. He got me a single credit card when we were in New York City looking for the Institute but that is all he's ever given me beside's an annoying voice in my head that throws its opinion into my head when I least need it."

"You know as well as I do that you thinking he doesn't love you is just you lying to yourself." Shayne said talking to Max like only Fang and Iggy did. Then turning to the rest of the flock she said "Now who wants to eat before we leave?" To which Angel, Gassy, and I all replied

"I DO!!!!!" And then we all sat down to eat minus Alice and Edward who had vanished taking the screaming girl now somewhat quiet except for occasional whimpering noises with them. As we were eating Shayne told us what she had gone through since we had left. As she told us about what the director had been doing to her for the past month Fang surprised us all by exclaiming and Iggy joined in.

"That fucking bitch!!!!!" Fang shouted, "Max you should have killed her when you had a chance. If she had died when you were in Germany, Shayne wouldn't have had to go through those brutal beatings for trying to escape."

"He's right." Iggy said, "You know the only reason that she nearly killed Shayne is because you escaped from being killed by her precious Omega and she needed to hurt someone or something with wings so she could pretend it was you."

"Do you really think that was the reason?" Max asked, "Do you think she was pretending Shayne was me because she knew we were cousins and was pretending that Shayne was me?"

"Yes." Fang said "She had to have known that Shayne was Jeb's niece and your cousin."

"That's right," I said talking a mile a minute. "She knew that Jeb was your real father and that Dr. Martinez is your mother and I think she wanted to punish Jeb for your escape considering that he helped you escape in a way by telling you how to defeat Omega. I also think that she wanted to punish you for surviving the fight with Omega as well and Shayne was the closest she could get to being you because she is related to you by blood and besides the fact that she isn't blonde looks kind of like you. If you pay attention she also has the same kind of attitude as you and Jeb cares about her as well as he cares for you and…"

"NUDGE!!!" Everyone shouted "SHUT UP!!! You're babbling again" Then Iggy once again covered my mouth so I couldn't talk, and held it there for a few minutes until he was sure I wouldn't start talking a mile a minute again.

"I don't think that was the reason." Shayne said, "She only punished me for trying to escape. She also did that for any other experiment that tried to escape. She either threw them into a locked room full of erasers or had them 'put down' I think was the term she used. I think that she just hates experiments in general even though she is the one that has them created. I think your guys' escapes just made her hatred worse. She's always seemed to hate us bird kids the most because we were her most successful experiment. I mean look at us, I was born with wings because my mother was an experiment. She lived for at least 19 years because she was 19 when I was born. Then there is us I have been alive for 16 years Max, you Fang and Iggy have all been alive for 14, Nudge you for 11, Gassy you for 8 and Angel you for 6. We have been alive for a long time compared to the other experiments. I mean Eraser's only live for about 6 years and they are the second most successful experiments at least that we know about. As far as we know Omega is the only other successful experiment but he could die any minute as far as we know. No I don't think that she was attacking me so she could punish anyone. I think she was attacking me because I was a successful experiment. Notice that she never had me killed. She pulled me out of the room before Ari could have his way and kill me because she wanted to learn how far I could be pushed so she could try to find out what made us bird kids such successful experiments." As Shayne finished talking Alice and Edward came running into the clearing, Edward carrying the screaming girl and Alice looking around as if trying to look for someone

**Alice POV**

While Shayne and the others ate, Edward and I left taking Angela with us. Angela was the girl that the young Angel had found screaming on the ground. Edward had found her nearly dead in the woods being attacked by a pack of wolves and feeling sorry for her decided to change her. Because we were no longer in Forks we technically wouldn't break the contract we had made with the Quileute wolves a long time ago. What Angel had heard was the pain of the transformation due to the poison that Edward had injected her with that was coursing through her body. I faintly heard Shayne and the other talking.

While we were waiting for the Flock to eat I decided to go on a quick hunt for a deer or some other helpless animal so I wouldn't be tempted to drink their blood. They had the misfortune of being part bird so I knew I would be tempted.

"Hey Edward," I said "I'm going hunting for a bit so I'm not tempted to take a taste of our new friends."

"That is fine Alice. " Edward said "just don't travel to far we have to leave as soon as Shayne and the others are finished with their meal."

"Don't worry Edward." I told him and then took off. Within a matter of minutes I had located a herd of deer. I slowed down and crouched down so I wouldn't alert the deer too soon of my presence. When I was a few feet away from the nearest deer they herd recognized that my presence meant trouble and took off. After chasing the deer for about a minute I tackled an 8 point buck and killed it. While I was starting to blunt my hunger I had a vision of Shayne and the flock eating like they were now when Aro and the rest of the Volturi come out of the trees and corner them. I sent an image of my vision to Edward and took off back to the clearing. I was so worried that we would be too late that I quickly caught up with Edward and we burst into the clearing, me looking around for a sign of the Volturi. When I saw no sign I turned back to Shayne and said,

"Shayne I don't want to rush you but I had a vision that the Volturi are here and planning to attack you." I said talking to Shayne, "Unless you want to be turned into tools I suggest you guys quickly pack up and head into the sky. The Volturi will be here within the next 10 minutes!"

As I told them that Max got up and took command.

"Guys pack as much of the food as you can into your bags and do an up and away." Max said. "I want us off the ground in five minutes maximum. If not you are on your own." With those orders the rest of the flock moved into motion. Within minutes the flock was ready to take off.

"Once you are up in the air," I told them, "start flying north. We will be right behind you. Fly For about half an hour and then you can land. We will be there soon after.

"What time is it?" Shayne asked us, "I want to be on the ground by 7:00 tonight that is unless you are willing to catch me when I fall out of the sky screaming in pain."

"Why would you fall out of the sky screaming in pain?" I asked her. "You look perfectly fine to me."

"Jeb," Shayne replied in turn, "Wants to do what he did to Max so his voice is in my head as well to give me advice, or so he said."

"You mean he wants to give you some brain explosions like I had to endure" Max asked, "Well at least he gave you a heads up. For me he hit me with brain explosions at any point of the day. Several times he did so with me when I was in the middle of flying. If Fang hadn't been there I would have been smashed on the ground below me. Fang carried me several times when the pain had caused me to blackout."

"Yes that is what I am talking about." Shayne said, "He gave me two just last night and said he was planning on doing the same for as long as it takes. I don't really fancy falling out of the sky and dying by hitting the ground." Before I was taken to Dr. Martinez's I was flying and barely made it into an alley before blood loss knocked me unconscious. Now please tell me what time it is Alice."

"It's 6:40." I told her, "Unless you are willing to give up living and become a tool for the Volturi clan then you have to fly for at least a half hour. I can try to keep up with you and catch you but my body is anything but soft. Only werewolves and other vampires can hurt us and them only just. Hope you don't mind being caught by what feels like a rock."

"Shayne," Fang said. "You were always like a sister to me and the other's while we were together in the school so if you don't want to be caught by Alice I can catch and carry you if Jeb does try to get into your mind. None of us are very heavy because of the bird DNA inside of us, so carrying you won't be too much of a hardship."

"Are you sure Fang?" Shayne asked, "I mean I am two years older then you and will be heavier then you even though you are right in saying we are all really light."

"No problem," Fang said, "Now let's hit the sky and get away from these Volturi vampires."

"O.K. everyone," Max said "On the count of three do an up and away, ready **THREE!!!!!!**" With that Shayne, Max, Fang and the others jumped straight up into the air, throwing out their wings and flying North looking like a group of huge bird of prey." Not 30 seconds after they had vanished into the sky the clearing was full of the Volturi soldiers. Then Aro stepped into the clearing followed by his other clan members.

"Well well," Aro said stepping towards us. "We enter this clearing hoping to find winged kids with special abilities and instead find 2 vampires with powers."

"Yep," Edward said, "Sorry to disappoint you once again Aro."

"Well who do we have here?" Aro asked, "Edward Cullen. Hey Edward how is Bella. Still alive and well or have you kept your oath and changed her yet?"


	9. Chapter 11

**Story of a Bird Kid 11**

**Alice POV**

"Well who do we have here?" Aro asked, "Edward Cullen. Hey Edward how is Bella. Still alive and well or have you kept your oath and changed her yet?"

Edward growled in a very predatory manner and tried to attack Aro. I had been holding him back but he was so angry that he easily broke out of my grasp and was only stopped by one of the Volturi Soldiers using her powers to make him wreath in pain on the ground.

"Well I take that as a no." Aro said, "According to your reaction she is still entirely human. What do you think Marcus, should we pay Miss Swan a visit before we head back to Italy and change her ourselves. That is after we find those bird kids of which I have a slight suspicion that these two know their location. Alice would you mind me reading your mind to see if you know where I can find these bird kids I have been hunting for, for the past couple of years"

"Sure Aro why not," I said, "But before you even think of asking me to join your coven again the answer is still no. I think the same still goes for Edward and Bella as well." With that I stepped up to Aro and held out my hand as if to shake his hand. He quickly put his hand in mine and within a few minutes let go again.

"Well Alice," he said chuckling, "As usual your thoughts are quite interesting indeed. Now how far can they fly in a half hour or do you know the answer to that question yourself? According to your thoughts, you do not really know yourself. Demitri, Maria you are my two best trackers. I want you to try to hunt down those bird-kids. Alice told them to go north for about 30 minutes and then land. Alice does not know how far they can fly in that amount of time but it cannot be too hard tracking those kids with your experience and ability. Now go and I will deal with these two." With that, two of the Volturi soldiers stepped forward and after smelling the air took off into the trees. Once they had gone Aro who had watched them leave turned back to face Edward, Angela, and I whom Edward was still holding.

"Why did you change that girl?" Aro asked looking Angela over. "She seems so young and vulnerable."

"I changed her because she was being attacked by wolves and was begging for someone to help her."Edward said, "She looked right at me and somehow knowing that I was a vampire she asked me to change her. She told me that she was not ready to die and I granted her wish by changing her into one of us. I was planning to take her with us to join the Cullen coven in Forks. Alice didn't see me until after I had bitten Angela, which is her name." He nodded to the girl in his arms."

"Very well," Marcus said stepping forward. "If Edward is telling the truth then we will let them go. Edward hand that girl to Alice and come here so Aro can see if you are telling the truth."

"O.k.," Edward said, "Alice come here and take Angela from me. I want to prove to these guys that I have nothing to hide." Once he said that I stepped up to him and took Angela from his arms and stepped away again. Then Edward stepped towards Aro and did the same exact thing I had done not 3 minutes before. Again, after a few minutes Aro let go of the hand he had taken.

"Very well," Aro said, "You are free to go but be sure to not get in our way again or you will regret ever crossing Marcus, Caius, and I. With that, he signaled to the other vampires and quickly moved out.

'Alice,' I suddenly heard Angel's voice, 'we over heard the whole conversation with our sensitive hearing. We never really left but were circling around the sky above the clouds. Shayne and Max want to know if it is safe for us to land now that the Volturi are gone.'

'Angel,' I replied, 'it isn't safe for you to land for several hours yet. Tell Max and the others that you will need to fly northwest for several hours. Meet us in northern California and then you can rest. Keep an eye on Shayne and if she does indeed start screaming like she thinks she will tell Fang to carefully hold her and find some way to keep her quiet. It does not matter how you do so just try your hardest. The 2 trackers that Aro sent after you guys have unparalleled senses and can hear things that others can't normally hear. If they hear Shayne scream they will track you that way and you will never be able to land until you fall out of the sky with exhaustion.'

'Ok' Angel's voice replied. After a few minutes of silence, I again heard Angel's voice. 'I told them Alice. They do not like it much but they agree to follow their instructions. We will meet you outside of Sacramento, California and then you have some explaining to do. That last part is Max's words not mine, so don't get mad at me I am just her messenger.'

'That is perfect.' I thought back to her, 'Edward, Angela, and I will meet you outside of Sacramento. Until then you guys take care of yourselves until we see each other again.'

'Ok, thanks Alice.'

'Any time, I'll see you later'

"Edward," I said and then only loud enough for Edward alone to hear continued, "Angel just told me that they have been circling around above this clearing and didn't go anywhere. Then she said that Max and Shayne wanted to know if they could land now that the Volturi had left but I told them no they could not and that now that Aro had sent Demitri and Maria to search for them that it would not be safe for them to land for several hours. Then I told them that if Shayne did start screaming like she was expecting to that Fang was to carefully hold her and find a way to stop Shayne's screaming so that Demitri and Maria cannot track them by the sound of her screaming. She told Max and Shayne what I had told her and after a few minutes, they agreed to follow the rules and said that they would meet us outside of Sacramento, California. Once we all get their I apparently have some explaining to do to Max."

"At least they are smart." Edward said under his breath so only I could hear and then louder, "Now let's head back to Forks. I want to be reunited with our coven as soon as possible so we can let Carlisle know what his old friends Aro, Marcus, and Caius are up to." As he said that, he slid Angela onto his back holding on to her tightly and then we were running faster than the fastest jet in existence, both letting out a snarl of pure exhilaration as we streaked trough the forest.

**Shayne POV**

Not two minutes after we (that is to say the flock and I) had vanished above the clouds our little clearing was filled with the people from my worst childhood nightmares.

"Well well," I heard the one I had always assumed was the leader. "We enter this clearing hoping to find winged kids with special abilities and instead find 2 vampires with powers."

"Yep," Edward responded, "Sorry to disappoint you once again Aro."

"Well who do we have here?" The one Edward had called Aro asked, "Edward Cullen. Hey, Edward how is Bella. Still alive and well or have you kept your oath and changed her yet?"

Not being able to see anything I about fell out of the sky in shock when I heard a very predatory growl that sounded surprisingly like Edward.

"Well, I take that as a no." Aro said, "According to your reaction she is still entirely human. What do you think Marcus, should we pay Miss Swan a visit before we head back to Italy and change her ourselves. That is after we find those bird kids of which I have a slight suspicion that these two know their location. Alice would you mind me reading your mind to see if you know where I can find these bird kids I have been hunting for, for the past couple of years"

"Sure Aro why not," I heard Alice say, "But before you even think of asking me to join your coven again the answer is still no. I think the same still goes for Edward and Bella as well." After what seemed to me ages of silence I heard Aro or at least I think it was Aro chuckling

"Well Alice," I heard Aro say while he was chuckling, "As usual your thoughts are quite interesting indeed. Now how far can they fly in a half hour or do you know the answer to that question yourself? According to your thoughts, you do not really know yourself. Demitri, Maria you are my two best trackers. I want you to try to hunt down those bird-kids. Alice told them to go north for about 30 minutes and then land. Alice does not know how far they can fly in that amount of time but it cannot be too hard tracking those kids with your experience and ability. Now go and I will deal with these two." As suddenly, as they had arrived Aro changed the topic of the conversation.

"Why did you change that girl?" Aro asked, "She seems so young and vulnerable."

"I changed her because she was being attacked by wolves and was begging for someone to help her."Edward said, "She looked right at me and somehow knowing that I was a vampire she asked me to change her. She told me that she was not ready to die and I granted her wish by changing her into one of us. I was planning to take her with us to join the Cullen coven in Forks. Alice didn't see me until after I had bitten Angela, which is her name."

"Very well," I heard one of the other vampire's from my dreams. "If Edward is telling the truth then we will let them go. Edward hand that girl to Alice and come here so Aro can see if you are telling the truth."

"O.k.," Edward voice said, "Alice come here and take Angela from me. I want to prove to these guys that I have nothing to hide."

Then another silence that seemed to last forever stretched for a few more minutes. I was so anxious that by the end of the first minute I was ready to pull out my hair from the pressure.

"Very well," I heard Aro say, "You are free to go but be sure to not get in our way again or you will regret ever crossing Marcus, Caius, and I."

I suddenly took a quick dip beneath the clouds and saw the last of the Volturi vampires slip into the trees. After about a minute, I pulled up and talked to Max.

"Those Volturi vampires are gone so do you think that it is safe for us to land."

"To tell you the truth," Max said, "I am totally clueless. It appears to be safe, but I have never faced vampires as my enemy before. True, I have fought and won against numerous erasers and flyboys that have tried to kill us, but bloodsuckers are something brand new.

"Max, Shayne." Angel suddenly spoke up. "Alice says that even thought the Volturi are gone we can't land for several hours. She also told me to tell you to fly and they will meet us is Northern California. Fang, Alice also told me to keep an eye on Shayne and that if she does end up having a brain attack like the one she seems to expect, to hold her carefully and find a way to keep her shouts quiet because Demitri and Maria would be able to track her us that way. She said that if that happens we would never be able to land until we fell out of the sky in exhaustion."

"I don't like this." I said, "I can't not be quite when my head feels like it is going to explode and I would prefer to be on the ground so I don't fall out of the sky if Fang can't catch me in time."

"I don't like this either," Max said, "But if Alice tells us we can't land we should listen to her. She has more experience with the Volturi's. Angel let Alice know that we will meet them is Sacramento California. Also tell her that once we land and they catch up with us she has some explaining to do for all of us."

"O.K" Angel said. "I let her know and she agrees to meet up with us outside of Sacramento."

"OK then." Max said, "Guys let's move out. Sacramento here we come." With that, we all flew toward where our internal compasses told us Sacramento was. After about a half hour flight Jeb hit me with a brain attack and Fang did indeed catch me and Iggy found a gag that he stuffed into my mouth to muffle the screaming I was making. That went on several times and then after I was sure I was finished screaming I pulled out the gag and stuffed it into the pocket of my hoodie for safe keeping. A few minutes after that I was feeling stable enough to fly on my own.

"Are you done for now?" Max asked, "I forgot how bad those brain attacks threw my sense of direction out of whack for several minutes and screwed with anything electronic that was nearby."

"Thanks for the concern," I said, "But besides a slight headache I feel perfectly fine. I am just going to take some of the aspirin that I bought." With that I pulled the straps of my bag off of my back and reaching into the front pocket I pulled out a container of aspirin. Once I had the container I handed the bag to Nudge who offered to carry it until I could take the pills. I quickly opened the container pulled out two pills and put the lid back on, then I grabbed my bag from Nudge, slid the container back into the bag, zipped it up, and slid the straps back over my shoulders.

"Max can we land soon to pick up some food?" Nudge asked, "I am getting really hungry and thirsty and my wings are starting to hurt as well."

"Sorry Nudge," Max said, "We were told to fly until we reached Sacramento which is still about 3 hours away. Just pretend we are trying to get away from about 500 erasers and flyboys that would totally beat us and take us back to "THEM" without a second thought. I don't think you would like that very much would you?"

"No Max I wouldn't" Nudge said, "I'll try to forget about my wings hurting. I will also eat some of the food that Shayne bought earlier and I will make do without something to drink only if where ever we stop for the night is within walking distance of something to drink. I don't care if it is a rest stop, or a town but I want to get something to drink pop if they have it. I mean I would even settle for a gas station."

"Nudge you are doing it again!!!!" Iggy shouted, "Turn off the Nudge channel I am not in the mood for your continuous talking."

"Iggy is right." I said, "Nudge your continuous chatter is just making my headache worse than it already is. Fortunately I have a way to block you. One the other hand Max and the rest of the flock do not have any means to do that."

"Sorry." Nudge said, "I'll shut up now for a bit."

"Thank you" The rest of the flock said in unison. After about 10 minutes my headache was gone and I pulled out the I-pod. Flipping through my songs I selected Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace. Within a few seconds I was singing along quietly.

_**I can't escape this hell**_

_**So many times I've tried**_

_**But I'm still caged inside **_

_**Somebody get me through this nightmare**_

_**I can't control myself**_

_**So what if you can see the darkest side of me no one will ever change **_

_**This animal I have become **_

_**Help me believe it's not the real me **_

_**Somebody help me tame this animal (this animal x2)**_

_**I can't escape myself (x2)**_

_**So many times I've lied (x2)**_

_**But there's still rage inside **_

_**Somebody get me through this nightmare**_

_**I can't control myself**_

_**So what if you can see the darkest side of me no one will ever change**_

_**This animal I have become**_

_**Help me believe it's not the real me**_

_**Somebody help me tame this animal I have become**_

_**Help me believe it's not the real me**_

_**Somebody help me tame this animal**_

_**Somebody help me through this nightmare**_

_**I can't control myself**_

_**Somebody wake me from this nightmare**_

_**Well I can't escape this hell**_

_**This animal (x7)**_

_**So what if you can see the darkest side of me **_

_**No one will ever change this animal I have become**_

_**Help me believe it's not the real me**_

_**Somebody help me tame this animal I have become**_

_**Help me believe it's not the real me**_

_**Somebody help me tame this animal**_

_**This animal I have become**_

After that I sang a few other songs that included "Riot " also by Three Days Grace, and then I got tired of listening to my music, so I turned off my I-pod and stuck it in my pants pocket. Once I had put it away I looked around and saw that everyone was staring at me.

"What?" I asked starting to feel self- conscious because of the stares. "I enjoy those songs because they pretty much describe my life. Particularly "Animal I Have Become" the song I sang first. "

"You are quite a good singer." Max said, "I wasn't expecting that coming from you."

"OMG Shayne!!!" Nudge exclaimed, "You are not only a good singer you are a really awesome singer. If you ever get a record deal put me in your fan club. I would buy every single one of your CDs and a player just so I could listen to your singing. You are right because you are a shape shifter the first song describes your life the most talking about the animal you have inside. That is a song that I will add to my favorites list if I ever get an MP3 Player or an I-pod. That song kind of applies to all of us because we are 2% bird."

"Nudge," Max said, "Let's turn off the Nudge channel. We land in 30 minutes so we need to be on the alert we don't really know what predators run in these parts because none of us have been here before this. We have to be on the alert until we are sure nothing is there that can harm us in any way. Is that understood?"

"Yes Max," Nudge sighed, "I understand. We are in unfamiliar territory so we have to be on our guard."

"Does everyone else understand that we need to stay on guard at all times while we are in unfamiliar territory? Most of you should know this because we have been caught off guard before and captured or in Fang's case nearly killed. Shayne you might know this as well but most likely not unless you rely on your animal instincts all the time which judging on how you act is not true."

"Yes we all understand that keeping on the alert is a good thing." Angel said. "Everyone is thinking that including Shayne though she doesn't know how she knows that. I personally think that she knows that because her mom taught her to keep on the alert because she had wings as well. Shayne was taken when she was 5 remember and when they first brought her to the School she already had wings. I think her mom wanted to keep her daughter safe and not get caught off guard. If that is true Shayne's mom was killed by I-tex and all that training was for nothing. Jeb knows where her dad is and he put her dad's name and number in the Envy 2 he bought her. Shayne has at least her dad now; that is if he accepts her back like Shayne is planning to ask him to do tomorrow. She plans on moving in with him once the Volturi threat is over."

"Fine with me,' Max said, "As long as you all know to stay on the alert I can relax just a little."

"I don't think that we have anything to worry about outside of Sacramento." I said, "The worst we may experience is getting soaked from a storm. Some scientists at the School said that Forks Washington is the rainiest place on Earth, we will have to get used to being soaking wet at some point in the near future. I wonder why the Cullen's would choose the rainiest place in the world to settle down. Maybe it has something to do with them being vampires. I'll ask Alice when they catch up with us tonight."

"Great," Max said, "We are going to a place that seems to have a raincloud hanging over it all the time I really enjoy being wet constantly. Seriously why don't you ask them that I want to know why they can't live somewhere sunny like Florida or some other place like that. So Shayne, do you have any other powers besides shape shifting? I didn't think to ask you earlier."

"No," I said, "Shape shifting is my only power unless you count the abilities being part bird gave me such as really good hearing and sight, and being able to fly."

"No, that does not count." Max said, "That doesn't count because we all have those abilities. So you don't have any other powers. That doesn't really surprise me. Fang has yet to get powers unless you count the fact that he is silent as a shadow at almost all times. I don't because that is just purely Fang. He has always been quiet." After that conversation we flew in silence for several minutes then Max spoke up. "Guys there is a clearing about a minute away so we will camp there for tonight. If Alice Edward and that Angela haven't caught up with us by later tonight we will stay there indefinitely until they have caught up with us then they can tell us how to get to their house." Once we landed the rest of the flock started setting up camp and I observed. Max took stock of all the food I had bought while gassy and angel looked for firewood.

After a few minutes of observing what Max and the other did, I started messing around with my shape shifting. I changed into my eraser form for a moment but Max nearly went AWOL on me and nearly beat me to pulp but before she had a chance to land a punch on me I had turned into a lion. Once Max had calmed down I returned to my normal form and apologized.

"Sorry Max," I said, "I had no idea that I was that convincing an eraser. The Ari I knew recognized me within seconds of seeing me. I just got bored with watching you and the rest of the flock set up camp and decided to mess around with my ability a bit."

"If you want to help us why don't you patrol our new surroundings?" Max said, "With your shape shifting abilities you are able to patrol more areas then we can. You can turn into any animal you choose and can fit in easily with the local wildlife population. That can be to an advantage if there are any enemies nearby because you can get a lot closer to them without giving us away. So what do you say about patrol?"

"I say," I said "bring it on. It's better than sitting around." With that I turned into my black wolf let out a howl that was answered by nearby wolves and then took off into the forest. I walked the outskirts of the clearing spreading farther away as I progressed. After an hour I sniffed out Max's scent and started to follow it back. As I got ready to reenter the clearing I heard a twig snap and spun around growling in a manner that said watch it or I will kill you.


	10. Chapter 12

Story of a bird kid 12

**Edward POV**

After we took off running we quickly headed to Sacramento California. After running for about 8 hours speaking in random conversation we got to Sacramento California, and circling the city ran into the woods on the other side where we assumed that Max and the others had gone.

"I hope they got here unharmed" Alice said, "We didn't need to come so far only to lose the flock because the Volturi got to them first."

"I know," I told her, "Once we get to the clearing we need to take Angela hunting and start her on our so called vegetarian diet. We have to tell Max and the rest of the flock to go for a flight long enough for us to go hunting. If we have to we can give them some money to go shopping for new clothes and stuff for Max and the others. The clothes they are wearing now are torn and wearing thin. Shayne doesn't need new things by the looks of it but she can go get that leg and back checked out. When we first saw them Shayne was thinking about her injuries and how there was a chance that they were infected. If she doesn't want to go to the hospital she can still go buy some medicine and other stuff."

"Yeah," Alice said, "I think her back is already infected or at least I had a vision like right before they showed up that her back was all red and infected. Medicine would be a good thing for her right now. I just have a feeling that she doesn't want to go to a hospital. If her back and leg have not healed at least a little bit when we get back home Carlisle can take a look at her." As Alice finished speaking she stepped on a stick snapping it, and we heard a growl now unlike the one I had made earlier of a predator protecting their territory. Within seconds I had heard Max's and the other's minds go on alert and made the connection.

"Shayne calm down," I said, "It's just us." With that I stepped out of the forest and into a clearing and as I watched a black wolf transformed and Shayne was standing in its place.

"Could you have given us a little more warning?" Shayne snapped, "I was preparing to try and rip your heads off thinking you were an eraser or something that the school had sent to recapture us."

"Sorry about that we were absorbed in a conversation and didn't smell your scents until you started growling at us."

"Apology accepted," Max said, "But Shayne had a point in asking you to give us a little bit of a heads up."

"Sorry about that." Alice said, "How long have you guys been here?"

"About an hour," Max said, "Why are you asking us?"

"Are you guys rested up a bit?" Alice said, "We need to hunt and when we go hunting we depend purely on our instincts. When we are that way we cannot tell friend from prey. I didn't save you from the Volturi only to kill you myself. Edward had an idea about giving you guys money so you can go buy new clothes in Sacramento giving us time to hunt as well so what do you think about it? I think it is a good idea as well."

"I am all for it!" Nudge exclaimed, "Max can we please go shopping we all need new stuff. Well all of us but Shayne at least. Please Max can we go? I am begging you. Can we please go into town? I am sick and tired of wearing the same exact outfit every single day. I could really go for a new outfit or two and mphhhh." Once again Iggy had his hand over her mouth with little hesitation.

"Max can we go into town?" He asked his hand still over Nudge's mouth. "If just for the sake of saving my ears. You know she won't shut up about it until she gets her way."

"Yes we can go into Sacramento." Max said, "I am not so sure about what Shayne is going to do seeing as she has clothes and other things but I could do with new clothes myself and maybe a haircut. If Edward will give us money we will head into town. What will you do Shayne?"

"If Edward needs to hunt I can't stop him and I am not in the mood to get attacked so I will head into town as well. I will get a haircut and maybe buy a new jacket or something. You can take Edward's money but I've got my own. I say we head into town for a few hours and then return to get some rest and continue on to Forks in the morning. How does that sound you guys?"

"Sounds great," Fang and Alice said.

"The sooner we get you to Forks and our coven the better." Alice said, "Now what do the rest of you say to Shayne's plan?"

"Sounds great to me and the others agree as well." Max said.

"Well then that is settled." I said and handed Max a huge wad of cash.

"Well I've got a cell phone but it is brand new so I don't know the number yet." Shayne said reaching into her pocket and pulling out her phone. "I barely know how to work the thing myself."

"My number is 653-6783." I told her. "Can you call my phone really quickly before you leave so that way I have your number in my phone so I can get in touch with you when I need too?"

"Sure, "Shayne said, "I saw the white coats at the lab using them so I know how to call people." With that she dialed my number slowly and with uncertainty before she finally hit the call button. Then my phone started ringing in my pocket which kind of freaked the flock members out.

"It is fine." I said, "That is just my phone ringing because Shayne is calling me. It lets me know that I am receiving a call." I said pulling out my phone to show them. "Well now that I have your number you guys can head into Sacramento and do whatever you want and we will call when it is safe for you to return to camp."

"Ok" Max said "Let's blow this clearing and hit the town." With that the entire flock jumped into the air and really gracefully unfurled their wings heading towards Sacramento.

**SHAYNE POV**

When Edward handed Max that huge wad of cash Nudge's eyes got huge and excited looking.

"Make sure you keep that hidden unless you need it." Edward told Max, "That much cash says jackpot to potential thieves. You have free rein in Sacramento for a couple hours so we can hunt without worrying about attacking you guys. Do any of you have a cell phone? If you do give me your cell number so I can call you when we are finished hunting."

"Well I've got a cell phone but it is brand new so I don't know the number yet."I said reaching into my pocket and pulling out my phone to show it to Edward. "I barely know how to work the thing myself. All I know about using these things I learned from watching the white coats."

"My number is 653-6783." Edward said, "Can you call my phone really quickly before you leave so that way I have your number in my phone so I can get in touch with you when I need too?"

"Sure, "I said sounding more confident then I felt. "I saw the white coats at the lab using them so I know how to call people." With that I dialed Edward's number slowly and with uncertainty before finally hitting the green call button. Then just as the phone at my ear started ringing something in Edward's pocket started going off as well which kind of freaked Max, Fang, me and the other flock members out. I got slightly freaked because I wasn't expecting it.

"It is fine." Edward said, mistaking our uneasiness for fear "That is just my phone ringing because Shayne is calling me. It lets me know that I am receiving a call."He said pulling out his phone to show us. "Well now that I have your number you guys can head into Sacramento and do whatever you want and we will call when it is safe for you to return to camp."

"Ok" Max said "Let's blow this clearing and hit the town." With that every one of us jumped into the air and unfurled our wings headed towards Sacramento. We landed and hid our wings under various forms of cover about a mile from the city limits. After we had done that we started walking and caught a ride on the back of a truck without the driver knowing. Once we abandoned the truck Nudge started looking around. "Ok guys," Max said "Let's split up into groups and meet back her in an hour so we can go get some food. I think that while we are here it would be a bad idea to call each other by our real names except for Shayne because she just joined our flock so no one knows she has wings."

"Um Max." I said, "That isn't exactly true. Before I went to Dr. Martinez's house I crash landed in an alley and passed out from blood loss without pulling in my wings. When I came too I was surrounded by a bunch of kids who all saw my wings. Other than them, the Martinez's, the white coats, Jeb and my dad no one knows about my wings. They don't know that I am part of the flock but quite a few people know I have wings."

"You are still able to keep your real name though." Max said, "No one knows that you are a member of the flock. The rest of you know the drill what are you going to say your names are?

"Nick Ride." Fang said. "What about you Iggy?"

"I don't care just don't call me by any girls name." Iggy said.

"How does Jeff sound?" Max asked, "It is original and will not attract too much attention.

"Sounds fine," Iggy said.

"Nudge what about you?" Max asked, "Yours will be interesting as usual I presume."

"My name is going to be Tiffany Crystal Butterfly Tangerine." She said in true Nudge fashion.

"How about we just call you Tiffany Crystal?" I asked, "It would be a lot easier for me to remember if it's called for."

"That will work." Nudge said.

"Gassy, how about you?" I asked, "Please make it normal and not something like Captain Terror or Spiderman."

"If you say so, how about Gareth is that ok?" Gassy asked, "I was called that before."

"Sounds fine," I said, "Angel what about you?"

"Angelica," Angel told us, "I was called that at Anne's house and even though she was working for Itex I still enjoyed the time we spent there."

"Well there we go." Max said "Now let's split up into groups and meet back here in an hour."

"Max I am going to go on my own." I said, "I have some things I need to do on my own but after we eat if we still have time to go shopping some more I will gladly take someone with me." Without waiting for an answer I took off in the direction of a store that had caught my eye and quickly went inside. Going up to the woman working behind the counter I asked where I could find the restroom.

"It is straight to the back and to the left." The woman told me. "If once you are done you need help finding some things let me know and I will try to help."

"Thanks but I have a pretty good idea what I am looking for." I said and went into the back of the store to the bathroom. Once I had found the bathroom I went in and locked the door so I could have some privacy and took off my hoodie. After looking around for any sign of a camera I pulled my wings out so I could stretch them and then pulled out my phone and called Emily Seville. She answered after the first ring.

'_Hello, this is Emily_

'_Hey Emily it is Shayne I told you I would call you at some point tonight I am hiding in a bathroom in Sacramento so I can have my wings out while I talk and don't have to stick out.'_

'_That is a smart idea, but why a bathroom of all places you can have privacy? Why not a hotel room or some other places like that? Wait did you say Sacramento? Do you mean to say you flew to Northern California in less than 10 hours? Those wings of your must be really powerful if you flew there which I am pretty sure you did.'_

'_Yes I am in Sacramento California, and yes I did fly with my own 2 wings. I am fine because I am not the only one that made the journey. I ran into old friend's while I was at the Martinez's house that are just like me just different ages.'_

'_Oh that is cool you are with the flock aren't you?'_

'_Yeah I am. How did you know about them?'_

"_I read Fang's blog. As a matter of fact I lead a protest against one of the Itex branches about 2 weeks ago. They are destroying our planet and if us kids don't do something about it future generations including our own will inherit a dying planet of sorts and there will be nothing we can do to stop it. I think you and the rest of the flock were created to try and prevent that from happening.'_

'_I wish that was true. I just think that they, being the white coats that experimented on me just enjoyed torturing innocent little kids. I am not sure why my mom was created though. She is the reason I have wings in the first place. She had wings and passed them on to me.'_

'_That is so cool. Where is your mom anyway?'_

'_According to the uncle that bought me my phone she was murdered but my dad still lives in Arizona somewhere.' _

'_That sucks. Do you remember either of your parents?'_

'_Not really but Dr. Martinez and Jeb my uncle said that I look just like her when she was my age. My dad I don't remember at all except for the tiny locket picture I have of him.'_

'_That really sucks. Well my dad is calling for me to go eat dinner so I have to go but maybe I'll call you sometime. Until then take care Shayne and don't do anything stupid like get discovered. See ya Shayne._

'_Bye Emily, talk to you later.'_

With that I hung up the phone, pulled my wings in as close to my body as possible and put my hoodie back on over them. Once I had done that I flushed a toilet and went back into the store to look around a bit. After looking around for a few minutes I pretended that the store didn't have anything in my size and walked out. I walked out of that store and looking around I saw a store called Hot Topic and glancing in I saw Fang looking around.

"Hey Fang," I said walking up behind him and tapping him on the shoulder.

"Hey Shayne what are you doing in here?" He asked turning around.

"I saw you in here and just wanted to say hello. This place has some pretty cool stuff."

"Tell me about it, and most of it is my style so I tend to come in here whenever I get the chance."

"Nice, well I'll see you in a bit then." With that I turned and walked out of the store. A few feet away I saw another shop that had some pretty cool looking coats and jackets in the window so I walked in. After looking around a bit I saw a nice jacket that seemed to suit my personality. It was a leather coat and on the back it had the picture of a tiger clawing its way out of the leather in a cool shade of metallic blue. I quickly tried it on and when it fit. When I set it on the counter the man at the register glanced around as if he was looking for someone.

"Where is your mom or dad?" He asked once he saw we were the only two people in the store. "You need them to pay for this."

"No I don't. I have a credit card in my name." I said and got into my wallet. While trying to decide on which card to use I noticed one with my picture on it. When I pulled it out I noticed it was a fake driver's license with my name and description on it. Pulling that out with one of my credit cards I set them both on the counter. The man looked kind of shocked but told me to put in my pin and then sign my name on the pad. As I did that the man put the leather jacket in a garment bag and putting the receipt in the bag once I finished handed it to me.

"Thanks for shopping here at the Jacket Company. Please come shop with us again."

"Thank you for letting me buy the jacket." With that I grabbed the bag in a better grip and headed out the door. Walking down the street I saw a hair salon and went in there as well.

"Welcome to Great Cuts." A smiling woman said walking into the front of the shop as a bell went off signaling my entrance. "What can I do for you today?"

"I want a haircut but I don't know how I want it cut." I said, "Do you think you can think of something that would suit me?"

"Yes I can but it won't be too cheap." She told me, "It involves dying you hair almost black and a good 15 minutes of cutting you hair. I also want to give your hair a good wash because it looks filthy it will take about 25 minutes to do everything. How does that sound?"

"Sounds fine to me but can I pay you now? I am going to have to leave directly after you finish my hair because I have to meet my friend's for dinner."

"Sure you can pay now." The woman said, "By the way call me Tiffany."

"Ok thanks for letting me pay beforehand Tiffany." I said pulling out my credit card and "driver's license" and setting them on the counter. "I totally owe you one."

Well then Miss Shayne follow me this way." Tiffany said and led me to a chair by some sinks. After the half hour she had said it would take was done I looked in the mirror and liking what I saw yelled thanks and ran out the door snatching up my new coat and meeting up with the flock in the center of town.

"Hey guys," I said, "Sorry I am running so late I got hung up getting my hair cut. As soon as she finished cutting my hair I took off out of the door because I paid beforehand. So what do you guys think?"

"Oh My Gosh I looooooove your hair!!" Nudge exclaimed, "Max I want my hair like that. Can I get my hair cut like that? Please Max please."

"Nudge, you can get your hair cut if we have time after we eat." Max said, "But I don't think your hair would look good the way Shayne's is cut maybe a different style. We could all use a haircut and we have plenty of money left over right now. I do like your hair by the way. Let's hit the Burger King around the corner."

"Burger King sounds good to me." We all said and headed around the corner. Once we walked in we bought Angel 3 kids meals, and the rest of us virtually ordered everything on the menu including extra for Angel if she was still hungry after eating the kid meals we had bought for her. We sat at the biggest table we could find and when we started eating we looked around and saw everyone else in the Burger King staring at us as we ate everything we had ordered.

"Jeez those kids have huge appetites." Someone said amazed. "Why don't my kids eat like that?" After we had heard whispered comments like that for several minutes we all started feeling self conscious and slightly claustrophobic. As soon as we finished or food, we threw away our trash and practically ran out the door. Stopping in the street Max turned to face me and asked.

"Shayne where did you get your hair cut?" Max asked, "Can you take us there?"

"Yeah no problem," I said, "Just follow me and I'll try to get the same deal for you guys unless you know how you want your hair done. Nudge, do you have another idea for your hair besides mine because Max is right your hair wouldn't look to good in my style." When nobody voiced any ideas for their new haircuts I said "Alright then, this is it." And with that I walked back into the hair place.

"Hey Tiffany are you still here?" I asked, "I brought my friends to get their hair cut."

"Yeah, I'm still here." Tiffany said, "Welcome back Shayne. Thanks for bringing your friends. How do they want their hair cut?"

"Like me they don't really have any idea." I told her, "Tiffany Crystal here," I said pointing to Nudge, "liked my hair but it won't look too good on her." So do you think you can find styles that suit them like you did to me? What they can't pay for I'll pay for them using my card. Can you do that?"

"Yeah no problem," Tiffany said, "Sarah Elizabeth just clocked in so she can help me with these makeovers. I think I did a really good job on your hair so the others shouldn't be much of a problem."

For those of you who are curious as to how she did my hair here is a description. The dye she mentioned earlier is black, it is cut to about the bottom of my ear and the bangs hang over my left eye slightly. As well as dying my hair black she also dyed stripes of red in my hair and it looks really cool. Well anyway back to the flock getting their hair cut. Tiffany and Sarah Elizabeth started with Max and Fang. Then after that they grabbed Nudge and Iggy, and finally grabbed Gassy and Angel. While they were in the process of cutting Nudge and Iggy's hair my phone started ringing. Looking at the caller ID I saw it was Edward and walked outside to answer it.

"_Hey Edward," I said, "Are you guys finished hunting?"_

"_Yeah we are for now. We will have to do so again really soon so that we can resist the urges to attack you. You guys can come back now."_

"_OK but it will be a bit, the rest of the flock is getting their hair cut."_

"_That's fine just come back as soon as you can so we can tell you what to expect when you meet the rest of our Coven in Forks."_

"_OK we will. See you and the other's in a bit."_

"_See you later"_

With that I hung up the phone and went back into Great Cuts to wait for the flock. Grabbing a switchblade that I had bought before we left Arizona that looked like it would be able to cut slits into my leather coat so that I could wear it while we were flying and I grabbed my coat out of the garment bag and went into the bathroom. The part with the tiger was folded so that I could easily hide the slits I would need for my wings to fit through that wouldn't be easy to see unless you looked for it while holding the coat in your hands. As I went into the bathroom I again locked the door for privacy and took off my hoodie so I could let my wings hang out slightly because they were getting stiff and uncomfortable from being held so close to my body for so long and preceded to cut the slits into my leather coat. I cut the leather to nearly the end of my back and found that I could easily slide my wings in and out of them. Once I had done that I slid my coat on and flinging the hoodie over my arm went back out to the front room to wait for the flock to finish their hair cuts.

Once the flock had all gotten their hair cut I told them that Edward wanted us to come back to the clearing as soon as we could. Max paid for most of the haircuts with the rest of the money that Edward had given her and I paid for the rest then we went out the door me in the lead. As we walked to the nearest alley the flock noticed the design on the back of my coat. Instead of Nudge starting up the conversation for once it was Fang that did so.

"Nice coat Shayne." He said, "That tiger design like that song you were singing earlier describes your personality perfectly."

"That leather jacket is soooo cool!!!!" Nudge said, "Fang is right it does describe your personality perfectly." As Nudge said that I smelled a scent that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. My instincts told me to growl so that is what I did once again turning into a black wolf.


	11. Chapter 13

Story of a Bird-kid 13

**Max POV**

Nudge told Shayne that the blue tiger design on the back of a leather coat she had bought described her personality perfectly and agreed with Fang. Instead of saying thanks Shayne suddenly stiffened and growled and transformed into the black wolf she tended to choose a lot and faced toward the entry of the alley we were getting ready to enter. Shayne's actions automatically forced the rest of us to get ready for a possible battle.

'Angel,' I thought, 'what does Shayne think is in that alley?'

'She isn't really sure but if I am reading her mind correctly she smells a really creepy kind of metallic smell that is making her hair stand on end and her instincts take over. Her mind is that of a predator protecting its turf and family, and I can't get through too her human mind. Whatever it is I can guarantee that it is no friend to us. It could be another vampire that isn't like the Cullen's, or it could be something else."

"Ok guys," I said, "Shayne is more animal than she is human right now which means that something dangerous is in that alley. Be on your guard and keep your eyes peeled for anything suspicious. Chances are good that it is a vampire but not one unlike the Cullen's. If it is a vampire chances are good that it is one of the Volturi so let's head in the opposite direction. Angel try to get Shayne out of her instinctual frame of mind and get away from here." As I said that Shayne's phone went off and she quickly changed back to her normal form and shocked answered it.

**Shayne POV**

Once I turned into a wolf to protect the flock I don't really remember what happened. I think I went more animal than human. Angel tried to talk to me in my mind but I was so far gone I didn't really hear her. I faintly heard Max talking quietly to the flock

"Ok guys," I think she was saying. "Shayne is more animal than she is human now which means that something dangerous is in that alley. Be on your guard and keep your eyes peeled for anything suspicious. Chances are good that it is a vampire unlike the Cullen's. If it is a vampire chances are good that it is one of the Volturi so let's head in the opposite direction. Angel try to get Shayne out of her instinctual frame of mind and get away from here." Suddenly my phone started ringing hidden in the midst of my changed body. Shocked I jumped and changing forms and pulled out my phone to answer it.

"_**Shayne you guys get out of there now**_!!!!" Edward was shouting in my ear when I answered. "Alice had a vision that there are some members of the Volturi coven waiting to ambush you in an alley somewhere in Sacramento."

"Got it, thanks Edward." I said and hanging up the phone turned to the flock who were staring at me waiting for me to explain. "Guys forget the alley we have to do a U+A right here and now. Edward said that Alice had a vision that there are some Volturi waiting to ambush us in that alley."

"Ok you guys heard her." Max said, "Alice had a vision so on the count of 3 let's do a U+A like Shayne suggested we do. Ready one!!!" With that we jumped straight up into the air unfurling our wings just as we heard a snarl from the alleyway. Once we were in the air we looked down and saw 2 shadows slipping farther into the alley and everyone in the stores come out to stare up at us in amazement.

**Fang POV**

When Shayne's phone started ringing everyone except for Max and Angel jumped in surprise. Even Shayne had a shocked look on her face as she turned back to her normal form and answered the phone.

"Hello?" Shayne asked and we all heard Edward's voice on the other end of the line.

"_**Shayne,**_" He was yelling, "_**you guys get out of there now**_!!!!" After about a minute Shayne finished talking and hung up her phone.

"Got it, thanks Edward." Once she hung up the phone she turned to the rest of us and said, "Guys forget the alley we have to do a U+A right here and now. Edward said that Alice had a vision that there are some Volturi waiting to ambush us in that alley."

"Ok you guys heard her." Max said, "Alice had a vision so on the count of 3 let's do a U+A like Shayne suggested we do. Ready one!!!" With that we all jumped straight up into the air unfurling our wings just as we heard a snarl from the alleyway. Once we were in the air we looked down and saw 2 shadows slipping farther into the alley and everyone in the stores come out to stare up at us in amazement.

"So much for ever coming back here to Sacramento without worrying about people knowing who we are." Shayne said, "I think we just made a spectacular announcement about whom and where we are. All those people know I am with the flock now so it will be harder to go anywhere without being recognized as a flock member. Oh well things like this happen all the time, well not things like this but things do happen. Do you guys know what happened to me back there?" I asked as we landed in our clearing, "I have no idea what it was but I didn't really feel like myself."

"Shayne, your instincts took over entirely." Angel said, "I tried to communicate with you but your mind was like an animals and you didn't really comprehend what I was saying. I am surprised that your phone even got through to you. I think it was mostly the fact that you weren't exactly expecting it."

"Sorry about that," Shayne said, "That never happened before even though I was threatened when I first escaped from the School. I guess it means that the Volturi are a much bigger threat than the erasers are. Let's get back to Edward and Alice and see what they think we should do." With that Shayne flew slightly ahead of the group and headed towards the clearing we had claimed as our own for the night at least. Within a few minutes Shayne angled toward the trees and took a running stop into the clearing. As we all landed Edward stopped running and still throwing stuff into our random bags turned to face us.

"We have got to get all of you out of here." He said, "The Volturi soldiers you guys saw in Sacramento went to get the trackers to hunt us down. We once again need you to fly as far as you can. I think it would be best if you went straight to Forks tonight that way we could get you under the rest of our coven's protection."

"The Volturi will come to us again eventually so you won't be entirely protected for the rest of your lives," Alice said coming out of the trees with Angela. "But you can get better prepared if you move in with us for the time being. Edward I called Carlisle and told them that we are coming straight home with those bird kids. He said to tell them to land behind the house and he will let them in and that way he will have time to warn Jasper, Rosalie, Emmet and Esme about them being part animal as well. Can you guys manage to find our house? It is outside of the Forks town limits and it is huge."

"I think we can find Forks easily enough." Max said, "We have internal radars of sorts which allow us to find towns and cities easily. I am assuming that we could find your house easily if you give us specifics as to what direction outside of the town it is. If worse comes to worse Shayne can turn into a wolf and track your guys scent to the house."

"That sounds fine to me." Alice said, "Just try not to fly over the Quileute Reservation. They don't really like strange creatures on their land. We were forced to sign a pact with them so that we could live in Forks without getting chased out of town. The Quileute's said that if we didn't sign the pact they would expose us to what they called pale faces which were really the normal humans."

"Try to avoid the Quileute Res got it." Shayne said, "Wait, what happens if we do end up flying over the reservation on accident?"

"We will most likely get a visit from the Quileute wolves." Edward said, "They always send a representative to our house. Most of the time it is Jacob Black but Sam who is the Alpha comes on occasion."

"Wolves?" Nudge asked, "Wolf's as in normal wolves or humans that can turn into wolves like Shayne?"

"Wolves kind of like Shayne," Alice said, "The only difference is that Shayne can change into any kind of animal and the Quileute's can only change into wolves. I think you guys call them erasers but we call them werewolves. The only difference between the two of them, is that erasers are genetic experiments that look like humans with fur and claws, and that are always trying to attack you guys and the Quileute wolves are naturally born to be able to turn into giant wolves that actually look like normal wolves; but that only happens if there are vampires around. The more vampires there are in Forks, the more werewolves on the Reservation."

"Let's fly around the Quileute Reservation." Nudge said, "I don't fancy meeting anything that looks even slightly like an eraser."

"If you don't want to even risk flying over the Res and being spotted," Edward said, "Either fly above the clouds or stay away from the ocean near Forks. Try to avoid being seen below the clouds, I assume you guys can fly above clouds with little if no trouble breathing due to your being part avian."

"That is right," Max said, "We can just fly above the clouds and the Wolves will never know we are there. We can fly over the Reservation above the clouds and no one would know about us being there unless we had to go below the clouds for some odd reason. Considering that Forks is supposed to be the wettest area in the Continental United States we shouldn't have to worry too much about not having enough cloud cover, am I right?"

"Yes you are right," Alice said, "Forks is as Edward told Bella when he first met her; the wettest place in the continental U.S right Edward?"

"Right Alice," Edward said, "now Shayne you guys need to go north northwest and Forks is near Seattle. Max we live slightly west of the Forks town limits. Can you find our house with those directions?"

"Easily," Max said, "Now let's get going guys before the Volturi find us again."

"We will be right behind you we are not sticking around this time to make another excuse to the Volturi."

"OK guys, up and away." Shayne said.

**Shayne POV**

"OK guys, up and away." I said and jumped almost 15 feet into the air before unfurling my wings and propelling myself into the sky. After a few minutes of flying I turned and saw the rest of the flock not far behind talking and stacking themselves so that they made a single shadow on the clouds we were flying above. When Fang saw me watching them he motioned for me to join them.

'Shayne fly to the top of the stack and join us.' Angel said 'It is a flock thing and you are now a member of the flock so I'm pretty sure Max would let you join in the stuff that we do.'

'Are you sure?' I asked her looking toward Max at the top of the stack with her eyes closed and a smile on her face. 'I don't want to intrude on your guy's thing.' At that point Max opened her eyes and saw me watching them form the tower.

"Come on Shayne join us." She said, "Angel is right you are a member of the flock now so you should be able to join in Flock activities. That includes this and the flock hand stack we do every night before we go to sleep."

"Well if you don't mind." I said and quickly joined the stack so that I was flying above the rest of the flock and joining my shadow with theirs to make an even bigger one then there already was. After I flew above the rest of the flock for about an hour I flew ahead of them and did a tight corkscrew move by flapping my wings hard once before folding in my wings to spin easier and then flaring them back out again before I fell through the clouds. Once I reached my original altitude I did a large loop and then a smaller one before flying back to join the flock all of whom had stopped flying ahead and were hovering in a spread out tower form and were staring at me in shock.

"Where did you learn to do a corkscrew like that?" Fang asked me, "We can do corkscrews ourselves but we have to keep our wings out and because we have to do so we can only do large corkscrews slowly, but you can both pull in your wings and spin super fast at the same time."

Honestly I have no idea," I told him, "I think my mom taught me how to do it and I just perfected it at the school whenever they let me fly whether it was for testing or exercise. Nevertheless I have been able to do that kind of trick flying for quite a long time."

"How would your mom have taught you to do that kind of stuff?" Max asked, "She had a chance to do so because you weren't taken until you were 5 years old but I still don't know how she could have taught you to do so."

"I am a Generation 2," I said, "Which means that one of my parents had wings as well. In my case my mom had wings so she could easily have taught me how to trick fly. Fang, Jeb said your mom was the same way, so for all we know our mothers could have been friends at one point."

"Really," Fang asked, "My mom had wings? Does that mean that you know who my mom was Shayne?"

"Well I don't," I said, "But Jeb might. When we land next I can let you use my cell phone to call him. He already has his number in my phone so all you have to do is find him in my contacts list and call him. Seeing as he just gave me the phone earlier today before we left Arizona there shouldn't be too many names on the list so his should be fairly easy to find on my contacts list. How would you like to do that? Actually come to think of it if we should wait until tomorrow because we won't reach Forks until late tonight and Jeb may be asleep at that time. I say we wait until the morning because I was planning on calling Jeb in the morning anyway before calling my father whom my dad also put into my contacts list before he gave me the phone."

"Wait when did he give you a phone?" Max asked, "You didn't have one when we ran into Edward and Alice after we flew after Angel."

"When I went to get Fang, Iggy and Nudge he called me away from the group." I said, "When I went with him he gave me the phone and told me that he didn't want me to leave because he had planned on taking me to see my father. He said that he had put in some numbers including my father's, he then told me that if I wanted to call my father to wait until tomorrow so that Jeb could give him a heads up that his long lost daughter would be giving him a call. He didn't say that exactly but I am assuming that he wanted to warn him about my call so that he won't miss my call."

After that I flew ahead of the flock again and pulled out my I-pod again. After a few hours of listening to my music I turned off my I-pod which had a low battery put it up dropping back to rejoin my flock and talk with them. After a few minutes of random conversation Jeb suddenly decided to try to get in my head again and I had a sudden brain attack that caused me to pull in my wings, grip my head and fall out of the sky before anyone had a chance to grab me. I had dropped below the clouds before Max went supersonic and quickly grabbed me from the air and fly with me in her arms back above the clouds and hand me to Fang. This time the attack lasted for several minutes and I lost consciousness according to what Fang and the others told me later. When I came too Fang and the others were getting ready to land in back of a huge house with all glass windows. As Fang hit the ground I quickly jumped out of his arms feeling kind of self-conscience and looked around curiously. Within minutes a man that seemed to be in his mid twenties walked out of the house and over to our group.

"Hello you must be Shayne and the other flock members that Alice mentioned." The man said, "I am Carlisle Cullen why don't you guys come in Alice, Edward, and Angela should be here soon. I would like to introduce you to the rest of the coven." With that he turned and headed back towards the house, "Just follow me." He said and started walking. As he went to open the door my phone went off and when I answered it Edward was on the other line.

"Shayne," He said "You guys flew underneath the clouds didn't you?"

"Not exactly"

"What do you mean not exactly?"

"I had another brain attack and apparently fell beneath the clouds before Max grabbed me. Why do you ask?"

"You were seen by the Quileute wolves so they are coming to inquire what the Cullen's know about flying people."


	12. Chapter 14

In this chapter when Shayne shows her wolf form to someone she mentions scars on her back. Pretend that she mentioned them before; she has had those marks on her back no matter what form she took after her last encounter with Ari and will most likely always have them.

**Story of a Bird-Kid 14**

**Shayne POV**

"The Quileute wolves saw us and are coming to inquire as to what your coven knows about us?" I asked him, "How can you be sure about that?"

"Whenever those dogs get involved Alice's visions vanish." Edward told me, "She was trying to keep an eye on you to see if you got to Forks ok and how you fare once you arrive. She saw you fall out of the sky then everything went black. That means that the wolves are sending someone to find out if we know anything about flying kids. Give Carlisle and the others a heads up to expect the damn dogs soon. Better yet is Carlisle anywhere nearby? If he is than please give the phone to him so I can tell him myself." With that I handed Carlisle the phone.

"Edward wants to talk to you." I said and then walked a few feet away.

"Yes Edward what is it?" Carlisle asked then paused so that Edward could answer him. "I see, thanks for letting me know about the Quileute's Edward, we will be ready for them." With that he hung up the phone and handed it back to me. "Edward told me to get you guys inside and then we are to wait for the Quileute pack member that is on his way. While we wait I am to introduce you to the rest of the coven and Bella who stopped by to ask us when Edward was coming back. The coven is aware that you are part animal and have been prepared as such so that they won't attack you. Welcome to the Cullen household." With that he opened the door and walked through the door with the rest of us following close behind. As we walked into the house we stopped and stared at the inside of the huge house.

"Wow, this is really nice." Nudge said, "It isn't what I expected with you being vampires and all. I expected dark corridors, coffins and other things from horror movies, but instead I find furniture, a piano, and plenty of lighted areas. This looks like the house of a rich family instead of the house of a coven of vampires. This house is almost as nice as a hotel. The only difference is that at hotels you can order room service, normally you have a game room, there are normally many more people, and normally you don't hang out with vampires."

"Nudge, shut up before you offend those vampires you mentioned." I heard Max say faintly as I walked over to the piano in a sort of trance, and sitting down opened the keyboard and started playing, trying to remember what my mom had taught me before I was taken. After playing a few practice scales I started playing a song my mom had played constantly and surprisingly didn't miss a single note. When I finished the piece I simply sat there and started sobbing because I missed my mom and I knew I would never see her again because she was dead. As soon as I started crying I was surprised to feel a pair of cool comforting arms wrap around me and hold me close.

"Shhh it is ok," I heard a female voice say, "Cry all you need to I don't care. You are a really talented piano player just like Edward is." After I cried for a few minutes I dried my tears and looked up at the woman who had comforted me. She appeared to be around the age of Carlisle and had a kind expression on her face. Carlisle came up to me and introduced me to her.

"Shayne," He said, "This is my wife Esme. She plays foster mother to Edward and the others." Motioning to the others he told them the same thing and then called for the rest of the Cullen family. The first person into the room was a huge man with dark hair who appeared to be around 18 or 19 years old, after him entered a blonde man about the same age as the first and after the two guys, in walked a beautiful blonde woman around 18. I was kind of jealous of her natural beauty I knew it was natural because she was beautiful even for a vampire. After her entered yet another girl that didn't seem to be a vampire, I assumed that she was the Bella that Aro from the Volturi had mentioned.

"Guys, this is Emmet, Jasper and Rosalie. Emmett is big but is a huge softy; Jasper is the blonde one and will try to avoid you guys as much as possible just to be safe. He won't be doing that because he doesn't like you but so he can stay safe. He is the newest member of the coven and still doesn't have as much control as the rest of us. Rosalie is the questionable factor of this coven if she doesn't like you it's just because that is the way she is. I already know that Alice, Edward and Angela like you. The one that was last into the room is Bella Swan. She and Edward are dating and are planning to get married once they graduate. Bella is also preparing to be turned into one of us so that she can stay with us forever."

"It is very nice to meet all of you." I said, "I promise all of you that I at least will try to not be a burden to any of you while we stay here. I will probably be out and about quite often and will keep my wings hidden anywhere but here or in case I need to get away. I don't really have any idea why but I can't stay inside for too long otherwise I tend to go a little stir crazy. I was the same when I was a prisoner and they had me out of my cage most of the time because of that. I can't really say anything about the others seeing as I am the newest member of the flock to date, the rest of them escaped together, I may be the oldest but Max is in charge of our group. Would it be ok if I was rarely here? If I have to I will walk around on your grounds which by the way from the little I saw are really beautiful."

"I wouldn't care if you walked around," Carlisle said, "As long as you always had company of either one of us or one of your flock members at all times. Esme I need to tell you guys that Alice's vision vanished once she had a vision of Shayne falling out of the sky. Edward seems to believe that the wolves will send a representative to us to see what we know about the flock so we need to be prepared for them to show up."

"Too late," Rosalie said, "We have a few dogs on the premises via the woods. Do Shayne and the others know about the wolves?"

"Yes we know about them."Max said, "of course, we have fought our own version of them but we call them erasers. They tended to constantly try to kill us and Shayne nearly got her leg ripped off and she did get her back nearly flayed and she did get it infected."

"Your back is infected?" Carlisle asked me and turned, "What about your leg?"

"Yes my back is infected but Doctor Martinez gave me some medicine." I said, "As for the leg it is perfectly fine, the biggest problem I have is that both my back and my leg bug me constantly."

"Did you go to a hospital?" Carlisle asked, When I shook my head no he easily walked over to me and picked me up. "Can you guys handle the wolves? I really need to go check out Shayne's back and leg."

"No problem Carlisle," Emmett said, "You go and look after Shayne and heal her back as soon as possible."

"Thank you Emmett," Carlisle said while I tried to get away from him and he just tightened his grip slightly. "If they insist on talking to me bring them to my office area." Once he said that he took off towards the stairs and quickly flew up them. Within seconds he was shutting a door and setting me on an examination table of sorts. "If you don't want to take off your shirt I understand just lift it as high as you can so I can see your back. Your leg I can look at later."

"I'd prefer to keep my shirt on thank you." I said, "And I am perfectly fine you don't need to check me over I have had way worse believe me."

"I am looking at your back no matter what."Carlisle said, "I will force you if I have to. Doctor Martinez is an animal doctor whom I have heard of. If you haven't gotten a human doctor's opinion on your injuries then I am definitely checking your back. Have you gotten a human doctors opinion?" Again I shook my head no and he lifted the back of my shirt up despite me protesting against it. He quickly started feeling the injury to my lower back then started feeling all of my old scars from previous beatings from when I had tried to escape some of which were still stinging from my most recent beating. "Your lower back is infected but your whole entire back is covered in scars and numerous other cuts and scratches. What happened to you Shayne You didn't get abused by your family did you?"

"I did get abused by my grandmother but she didn't give those scars to me." I said, "I haven't seen her since I was 4, and the worst that she ever did was give me bruises. Those scars were given to me from those erasers that Max mentioned but she didn't know about them and I don't intend to let her find out about them. When I got these scars it was punishment for trying to escape from a lab known by us flock members as the School. The only reason they hurt me so bad was because I was drugged and then tied up and thrown into a room full of erasers that all wanted me dead. The one that was the worst was an eraser that went by the name of Ari. He was the leader of the erasers and loved hearing me scream in pain to the point where he nearly killed me but the Director pulled me away before he could finish the job."

As Carlisle went across the room, grabbed a first aid kit he had, and returned to the table I was sitting on I heard a noise and transforming my ears into a wolf's ear heard a few people come up the stairs and before I had time to pull down the back of my shirt the door was flung open and three huge guys in their late teens entered the room and I spun to face them, pulling my shirt back down, changing my ears back to normal, flared out my wings to look bigger and I crouched into a predatory crouch. Once I was sure they weren't going to attack me because they did look suspiciously like an untransformed erasers, I straightened up folded my wings and looked at the wolves from the Quileute Reservation. After looking at each one of the three that had entered I noticed a forth one hovering in the doorway that looked like the one named Mathew from my old nightmares.

"Do I know you?" I asked him and looking at him I also asked, "Is your name Mathew?"

"Yes my name is Mathew," he said and took a step into the room and closer to me, "How do you know my name?"

"I used to have nightmares all the time about a huge battle and you kind of turned them into good dreams because you saved me and kept me company until my flock members returned and even after my friends had caught up to me. The only reason I remembered you was because you were the only one that at the time felt real to me."

"You had dreams about me?" Mathew asked, "What is your name and what can you do besides scare the crap out of me with huge wings like that?"

"Yes I used to have dreams about you." I said, "My name is Shayne Rider, I am 98% human, 2% bird otherwise known as a human, bird hybrid. I was born with wings which allow me to fly and I am a shape shifter which means that I can turn into any animal with a simple thought. I was kidnapped from my parent's home at the age of 5 and taken to a lab known as the "School" where I was experimented on and punished for trying to escape by getting drugged, tied up and thrown into a room full of werewolf experiments and attacked. My mom had wings which is why I was born with them. I don't think I missed anything else, oh yeah according to my uncle Jeb my mom was murdered by the school and my dad lives somewhere in Arizona."

"You are a shape shifter?" Mathew asked, "Can you prove it to us? Not only to me but Sam, Jacob, and Seth as well? If you can prove it to us we will believe what you say a lot easier."

"Sure," I said, "Any preferences as to what I should turn into? If not I will simply turn into my typical wolf form and a few other forms that I have used before."

"Why not just your typical wolf shape," Mathew said, "If you show us your wolf form I'll show you mine."

"That sounds fine to me." I said and climbed off of the table Carlisle had sat me on. Once my feet hit solid ground I stumbled a few steps away and turned into my huge black wolf form, turning to look at everyone's expressions. Carlisle looked kind of shocked but the 4 werewolves looked pleased until Mathew saw the cuts on my back from my latest encounter with erasers then he looked kind of angry. I quickly turned back to my normal form and asked him what was wrong.

"Who attacked you and left those marks on your back?" he asked sounding kind of protective of me.

"Scientific experiments known as erasers," I said shocked, "Most of the damage was from one in particular that goes by the name of Ari. Why do you ask?"

"No reason," Mathew said, then one of the Quileute wolfs walked up to Mathew and muttered something to him, "I'll tell you later once we leave here." Mathew said. Once he finished the largest of the group stepped forward.

"Thanks for understanding about our showing up Carlisle at least you don't seem really angry about us just barging in." he said, "We don't need to ask questions because we saw the group downstairs and Shayne told us the rest when Mathew asked about her, We shouldn't bother you again anytime soon. Sam let's get out of here ok I won't stand the smell any longer than I have to."

"Gladly" the one I assumed was Sam said and wondered what on earth they were talking about. To me the house smelled nice if slightly different than the house of Doctor Martinez. As I was wondering about it Mathew and the others turned and took off.

**Mathew POV**

We busted through the leech's door and scared the crap out of a group of kid from around the age of 6 or 7 to the age of 14 to 15. When we busted the door down to get in those kids all jumped up spun and crouched like the vampires did when they were startled. The only difference was that those kids smelled like both a human and a bird of some sort. The kids were getting ready to attack us when the vampires appeared out of nowhere, that is most of them appeared out of nowhere.

"Where are Carlisle and Edward at?" Sam asked, "We need to speak to one or the other."

"Edward isn't here," Emmett said, "And Carlisle is upstairs tending to one of them." He said nodding toward the kids that had all calmed down now that the vampires had shown up.

"He's in his office correct?" Jacob asked and when Emmett nodded Jake said, "Just follow me you guys I know the way." And with that he took off up the stairs followed by Sam, Seth and me in the rear. Once we reached a door on the second floor Jacob again busted a door open and we all charged in, only to be confronted by quite an intimidating sight. Another girl was in the room with Carlisle and when we charged into the room she jumped off a table, spun around, pulled the back of her shirt down, unfolded a huge set of _Wings, _and crouched toward the grounds much as the group downstairs had done. In less than a minute she had straightened up and folded her wings back up so she looked normal and simply looked at the others who I was kind of hidden from view behind because they were so much bigger. Once she had observed the other three she glanced at me and sounded surprised when she asked

"Do I know you?" she asked me, "Is your name Mathew?"

"Yes my name is Mathew," I told her and took a step toward her and farther into the room, "How do you know my name?"

"I used to have nightmares all the time about a huge battle and you kind of turned them into good dreams because you saved me and kept me company until my flock members returned and even after my friends had caught up to me. The only reason I remembered you was because you were the only one that at the time felt real to me." Was the unexpected answer. When she had said that, I started to feel kind of protective of her.

"You had dreams about me?" I asked, "What is your name and what can you do besides scare the crap out of me with huge wings like that?"

"Yes I used to have dreams about you." She told me then said, "My name is Shayne Rider, I am 98% human, 2% bird otherwise known as a human, bird hybrid. I was born with wings which allow me to fly and I am a shape shifter which means that I can turn into any animal with a simple thought. I was kidnapped from my parent's home at the age of 5 and taken to a lab known as the "School" where I was experimented on and punished for trying to escape by getting drugged, tied up and thrown into a room full of werewolf experiments and attacked. My mom had wings which is why I was born with them. I don't think I missed anything else, oh yeah according to my uncle Jeb my mom was murdered by the school and my dad lives somewhere in Arizona."

"You are a shape shifter?" I then asked, "Can you prove it to us? Not only to me, but to Sam, Jacob, and Seth as well? If you can prove it to us we will believe what you say a lot easier."

"Sure," she said, "Any preferences as to what I should turn into? If not I will simply turn into my typical wolf form and a few other forms that I have used before?"

"Why not just your typical wolf shape," I said, "If you show us your wolf form I'll show you mine."

"That sounds fine to me." She said and climbed off of the table Carlisle had sat her on which she had returned to while explaining who she was. Once her feet hit solid ground she stumbled a few steps away and turned into a huge black wolf form, turning to look at everyone's expressions. Carlisle looked kind of shocked but the rest of us were pleased, that was until I saw the cuts on her back which made me kind of angry. She quickly turned back to her normal form and asked me what was wrong.

"Who attacked you and left those marks on your back?" I asked her furious

"Scientific experiments known as erasers," She said, "Most of the damage was from one in particular that goes by the name of Ari. Why do you ask?"

"No reason," I said, and then Sam walked up to me.

"What is going on with you?" He muttered, "You are not acting like yourself.

"I'll tell you later once we leave here." I said.

"Thanks for understanding about our showing up Carlisle at least you don't seem really angry about us just barging in." Jacob said stepping forward, "We don't need to ask questions because we saw the group downstairs and Shayne told us the rest when Mathew asked about her, we shouldn't bother you again anytime soon. Sam let's get out of here ok I won't stand the smell any longer than I have to."

"Gladly" Sam said and with that we all turned and ran out of the room, down the stairs and out the door pulling off our shirts and turning into our wolf forms in mid run. Once we had gotten back onto Quileute lands Sam returned to his human form motioning for the rest of us to do the same. Once we had all turned to our normal forms he looked at me and asked, "What had you so upset when you saw Shayne's back?"

"I don't know really," I said, "I just have an overwhelming need to protect her ever since she said that I was the only thing that seemed real to her in her old nightmares."

"Sounds like you've imprinted on her Mathew," Jake said, "Quill, Sam and Embry all said the same basic thing when they imprinted. You kind of imprinted on another werewolf kind of. Sam, Quill, and Embry all imprinted on mortals, Shayne on the other hand is a human bird mix and a shape shifter to boot. I consider her kin in a way now because she can turn into a wolf and a huge one at that, just like us. What do you make of that Sam?"

"I think you are right." Sam told him, "Mathew seems to have imprinted on Shayne."

"Sounds like we are the only ones left that need to find someone to imprint on Jake." Seth said joking around, "Well us and Leah at least. We better hurry up and do that or we will be the only ones left matchless."

"Oh be quite Seth." Jacob said, "Mathew if you've gone and imprinted on Shayne we should let the Cullen's know so that way you can stay near her at any time if they allow that. Personally if I was you I would let the one you have imprinted on know you have done so and explain it to her as well. The final choice is yours of course but the sooner she knows the better so she doesn't freak out thinking you are planning on attacking her or something. Judging by her reaction when we burst into the room she would be a formidable opponent given the fact that she could simply turn into a larger animal and rip you apart if she was so inclined. I would hate to be her enemy when the time comes."

"Telling her sounds like a good idea to me," I said, "You are right she could be a formidable enemy and I don't want to scare her off. As for telling the Cullen's I will ask permission but I would prefer to tell them with company."

"I'll gladly go back with you," Seth said, "Unlike the other 2 I can stand the scent of vampire even if it is strong, for quite a length of time. When do we go back?"

"Might as well get it done and over with." I said to him and we turned back toward the Cullen house. "Sam I will be back in time to run patrol later today. If I am not then you can punish me in any way you see fit." With that Seth and I phased and took off in the direction we had come back to the Cullen residence. When we emerged from the woods on the Cullen's property, Edward, Alice and a new girl where back and Shayne was outside getting ready to take off. I stopped, phased back to my human form and stared as she shot straight up into the air and once again flared out her wings. Once she was up in the air she quickly flapped her wings, folded them in and performed a fancy corkscrew across the Cullen's property and flaring her wings back out spun toward the house and saw Seth and I standing at the clearings edge. As she landed and stared at us Edward and the other 2 turned to see what Shayne had seen finally catching our scent. I knew that Edward was a mind reader so I explained what was going on in my mind as quickly as possible and said that I wanted to let Shayne know what was up and that once I did that I would head back to the reservation for patrol. He nodded his consent and went inside with Alice and the new girl. Shayne was looking kind of uncomfortable and started to walk towards the house as well but I called her name.

"Shayne," I said, "I need to tell you something really quickly; that was the reason I came back."

"Go ahead then," Shayne said and leaned against a tree to listen to what I had to say. "I don't have anything else to do for a little while anyway."

"This may freak you out a little bit," I said, "but I would prefer to tell you myself rather then you to find out about it later and attack me or something for thinking something else." Shayne suddenly grinned and sat up straighter letting her wings hang out a little. "Will you please not get mad at me or something?"

"Oh spit it out already." Shayne said, "I am pretty sure I know what you are about to tell me anyways and if I am correct I think it makes plenty of sense given the dreams I used to have."

"Ok then," I said, "We Quileute wolves can do something that we call imprinting, which is kind of like love at first sight. We don't know how it happens but it tends to happen when we find our soul mates. I have no clue why but somehow I think I have imprinted on you. I explained it to Sam and the others and the suspected the same thing."

"Ok." Shayne said, "If that is all I accept you as my soul mate because I feel kind of the same way about you. As a matter of fact I have felt the same basic way when I had those dreams about you when I was younger."

"That is all?" I said, "That didn't freak you out?"

"Having a 6 year old mind reader helped out with that.


	13. Chapter 15

Story of a Bird Kid 15

**Shayne POV**

About 15 minutes after Mathew and the other werewolves left and Carlisle had told us flock members that he would be enrolling us into the local Forks schools with much complaining from the rest of the flock members who had attended before, Edward, Alice and Angela got back home. Once they came in they asked if I would go outside and fly for them so that they could see my fly without having to worry for my safety. I quickly agreed and the group of us went outside. Once we were outside I jumped into the air and flew around the clearing several times before landing again.

"Hey Shayne," Alice said, "I had a vision about you doing some kind of a corkscrew move in mid air, could you show it to me in person instead of me seeing it in my visions."

"Yeah sure," I told her, "I can show it to you. My mother taught it to me when I was like 4 years old and I just perfected it in the 7 years since I was kidnapped. My ability to do that shocked the hell out of Max and the others when I did it earlier." With that I jumped into the air again and repeated the whole wing-flap corkscrew routine, shooting entirely across the Cullen's property. Once I had finished the corkscrew and started to drop, I flared out my wings again and spun to return to the Cullen's. Glancing towards some movement I had seen on the opposite side of the clearing I saw Mathew and the wolf I assumed was Seth. I landed quickly and just stared at the two Quileute's. Noticing my stare Edward and Alice smelled the air and then the three vampires spun around to see what had captured my attention.

Mathew was looking at Edward for a few minutes then suddenly Edward nodded and the group of vampires headed into the house. Feeling self- conscious I also started to walk back toward the house.

"Shayne," Mathew suddenly said, "I need to tell you something really quickly; that was the reason I came back."

"Go ahead then," I told him leaned against a nearby tree to listen to what he had to tell me. "I don't have anything else to do for a little while anyway."

"This may freak you out a little bit," Mathew said, "but I would prefer to tell you myself rather then you to find out about it later and attack me or something for thinking something else."

'_Shayne he is going to practically say he is head over heels in love with you.'_ Angel's voice suddenly said in my head, which caused me to grin and straighten up against the tree

'_Thanks Ange, Now I am not quite so uncomfortable.' _I replied back. Then I tuned in to Mathew

"Will you please not get mad at me or something?" He was saying.

"Oh spit it out already." I told him, "I am pretty sure I know what you are about to tell me anyways and if I am correct I think it makes plenty of sense given the dreams I used to have."

"Ok then," Mathew said, still sounding kind of nervous "We Quileute wolves can do something that we call imprinting, which is kind of like love at first sight. We don't know how it happens but it tends to happen when we find our soul mates. I have no clue why but somehow I think I have imprinted on you. I explained it to Sam and the others and they suspected the same thing."

"Ok." I said a little too calmly, "If that is all I accept you as my soul mate because I feel kind of the same way about you. As a matter of fact I had felt the same basic way when I had those dreams about you when I was younger."

"That is all?" Mathew said kind of stunned at my reaction, "That didn't freak you out?"

"Having a 6 year old mind reader helped out with that little problem." I told him, "Angel is the youngest of my flock but has the ability to read minds and control them occasionally. I don't know what her other abilities are, but I know she has others. The same goes with the rest of the flock members, as far as I know all of us have some sort of ability except for Fang. You will meet the rest of the flock and learn their names at a later time. Now we have to go register as students in the Forks Local School District. That will be so much fun." I said that last bit very sarcastically as in I didn't think it would much fun at all with the reactions I had seen from Max, Fang and Iggy. Nudge, Gassy, and Angel had all seemed kind of excited to be going to school.

At that point Edward came back out of the house and said, "Mathew, I talked to Carlisle about your little problem and he gave you permission to come and go as you please."

"Tell him I said thanks," Mathew said, "Now I need to get back for my patrol. Come on Seth let's go before Sam takes me up on that offer I gave him earlier." With that his outline started to ripple and within a few seconds there was a huge reddish colored wolf in his place. I looked longingly after the two wolves disappearing into the woods and wishing I could join them but knowing I couldn't do so. Edward came and gently touched my shoulder to get my attention and when I turned he said,

"Shayne, we are getting ready to head into town to get you registered as students. We are taking our cars so who are you ride with; me in the Volvo or Carlisle in the Mercedes? I am taking Bella home afterwards so she will be riding with me. I have three more seats in the back which might be a little cramped for you. If you want to have the most room you can possibly get a ride with Carlisle."

"I'll ride with Carlisle," I told him and went back into the house to grab my coat. Within a few minutes me, Max Fang and Angel were riding with Carlisle, and Nudge, Iggy and the Gasman were riding with Edward and Bella. Being in a small car sealed up I started to feel kind of claustrophobic and rolled down the window after asking Carlisle how to do so. By the time we rode into Forks Max and Fang had their windows down as well. As we pulled into Forks Elementary and came to a stop Max, Fang and I flung the doors open and jumped out of the car eager to have some space. Iggy, Nudge and Gassy did the same from Edward's car. Once Carlisle, Edward and Bella had gotten out of the cars we went in and Carlisle led us to the main office. Carlisle seemed really well known and quickly had Angel and Gassy enrolled at the school. Angel was now in 1st grade and Gassy was in 4th. After we got them registered we headed over to Forks Middle school and got Nudge registered, again Carlisle seemed to be well known and Nudge was quickly registered into the 6th grade. After that we went to Forks High School where Max, Fang, Iggy and I would all be students for our time here. In the main office at the high school not only was Carlisle well known, but Edward and Bella were as well. Within 20 minutes the 4 of us were enrolled and told that we would be in a class with either Bella or one of the Cullen's in it. Then we were told we would come to the office first thing the day after tomorrow to pick up our schedules. Once we had finished we all piled back into the cars, dropped Bella of at her dad's and went back to the house.

When we got back home we smelled great food, and then Alice and Rosalie stepped forward and announced that we were going on a shopping spree to Seattle in the morning.

"We made dinner for you guys while you were gone, hope you like Italian food." Esme said coming out of the kitchen. "You guys staying with us gave me a great excuse to use the kitchen. The last time we got to use the kitchen was when we first met Bella; of course she didn't think we would make her a meal so she had eaten before she came."

"Thanks for making us food," Max said, "But I should ask how much you made. If you didn't make a ton then we will go into town once we finish eating to get more. Because we are genetic experiment we need at least a minimum of 3000 calories per day which is 1000 calories more than your average human. We also have bigger appetites because we burn so many calories when we fly. An example is that when we order pizzas, Angel gets a large just for herself and eats the entire thing. The rest of us are the same way. Seeing as Shayne is a shape shifter I don't know about her appetite compared to the rest of us."

"Dr. Martinez said that I ate more then you and Fang combined when I was there yesterday evening." I told them, as I threw my coat onto the couch "Of course that doesn't really surprise me seeing as I am a shape shifter and am more animal then you will ever be unless you suddenly develop the ability to transform as well."

"Speaking of animals," Rosalie said, "Shayne your pet wolf is back."

"He wants to take her to dinner." Edward said, "And nothing else."

"He wants to take her to dinner on the Reservation." Angel said, "Some of the wolves are going over to the Black's place and Sam is bringing his imprint so Mathew wanted to bring Shayne along and introduce her to some of the wolves she hasn't met yet." Once Angel finished talking the doorbell rang and Edward went and opened the door. Mathew was indeed standing in the doorway. I was standing in the shadows so he didn't see me when he said,

"Hey Edward, is Shayne back yet? I wanted to ask her something." I stepped into the room and out of the shadows so he could see me.

"Yes she is right here." Edward said and stepped away from the door so I could get to Mathew. "Shayne, I'll be in the kitchen if you need me."

"Thanks Edward," I said but he was gone before I finished his name, "Yes Mathew, I would love to go over to the reservation and have dinner with you guys." I said just as his mouth was starting to open to ask me.

"How did you…" Mathew said, "No never mind, you are in a house with two mind readers. How are you planning on getting to the res? Are you going to fly, run or am I going to have to carry you?"

"I'll run," I said "I was dying to take off with you and I think it was Seth who was with you this afternoon when you headed back to the reservation after your declaration of love. The only thing that stopped me was the fact that Edward was there. Do you know why Carlisle is so well liked in Forks? Everyone at the offices of the schools seemed to really like him and we got in and out of every building. They didn't seem surprised about him coming in to enroll a group of seven kids between the ages of 6 to 16 years of age."

"I am pretty sure he is so popular because he is a really good doctor in the area. He is one of the best doctors in the state of Washington. It is just a pity that Billy Black disapproves of us going to him for medical advice. I am assuming that no one was really surprised to see Carlisle bring in a group of kids because the story they provided is that Carlisle and Esme are foster parents that adopted the Cullen kids. The people in the offices probably think you are foster kids as well. Now grab your coat so we can get to the Black's house."

"Ok it'll just be a minute." I said and ran across the room to get my coat off of the couch where I had thrown it earlier.

'_Shayne,' _Angel broke into my thoughts, _'Max told me to tell you not to stay out too late and that she will be interrogating you when you get home. Well she said to have fun, she didn't get to chance to block the second half of that before I heard it.'_

'_Thanks for the heads up;' _I thought back, _'I wouldn't want to be surprised by Max still being awake. Tell Max I said thanks and tell everyone not to wait up for me just to see what they say then let me know.'_

'_Will do Shayne,' _Angel said, _'I am telling you to have fun as well. You more than any of us need it considering you are still new to the world outside of the School. We will all have the chance to do something like that it just so happens that you were the first one. Think about it, you are spending the evening with werewolves while we are stuck here with the vampires.'_

'_Thanks Angel,' _I said and headed out the door where Mathew had taken his shirt off and was waiting impatiently for me. Once he saw me he said,

"Come on, we are running late" Once he said that changed into his wolf form and started towards the woods. I quickly turned into my wolf form and took off after him. After about a minute I heard Mathew's voice and looked at him to see if he had changed back for some reason but he was still in his wolf form. I heard him say something about telling Billy Black that the Cullen's had held him up by not letting him see me and I stopped in my tracks. He heard my running stop and turned to see what was wrong. I started glaring as we both turned into our human forms.

"What's wrong Shayne?" He asked looking genuinely concerned

"You are not going to try and get the Cullen's in trouble." I told him, "They are being kind enough to try and save us from a group of Vampire's that are after us for our unique abilities and I will not tolerate you getting them in trouble by claiming that they wouldn't let you see me when Carlisle said you could see me any time you wanted to. If you are going to lie about it I am turning around and going right back to the Cullen's place."

"How did you know I was thinking about lying about the Cullen's?" Mathew asked me,

"I heard you clear as day." I told him, "I thought you were telling me you were doing it and you had turned back to your human form. When I looked you were still in your wolf form so I stopped in my tracks and you know the rest."

Can you read my mind now?" Mathew asked, and I shook my head no. "I am going to change into my wolf form and I am going to ask you the same thing with you as a human, then I want you to change and think you answer does that sound good?"

"Yes that makes sense." I said and Mathew turned into his wolf form. I didn't hear anything and I shook my head no and then I transformed as well

'_Can you hear me now?' _Mathew asked clearly

'_Yes I can hear you now.'_ I said in response

'_Are you by any chance part Quileute Indian?'_

'_I could be but I am not really sure. I think either my mom or dad mentioned being part Indian before I was taken because I had a school project about heritage. Why do you ask?'_

'_Because we Quileute wolves have the ability to communicate with each other when we are transformed and that is what you appear to be able to do.' _

'_That is interesting, are you saying I can read the minds of the Quileute werewolves?'_

'_It appears that way, now come on we need to get going. I promise not to blame the Cullen's for being late. But if we wait any longer the food will most likely be gone.'_

With that we took off once again and not long after that we ran out of the woods onto the Quileute reservation and changed back to our normal forms and walked toward the last house on the res.

"You ready to meet my pack?" Mathew asked walking up onto the porch,

"Ready as I'll ever be." I told him

"I should warn you," Mathew said, "That Billy Black is in a wheelchair so that you don't stare at him. He is Jacob's dad. Jacob you met earlier at the Cullen's house he was the larger one of the group." As he said that he went up to the door and knocked. After a few minutes the door was opened by Billy Black.

"Mathew there you are. What took you so long to get here? Did you get held up on patrol or something? Oh who is this?" He asked catching a glimpse of me trying to hide behind Mathew.

"This is Shayne." Mathew said stepping aside so Billy could see me, "She is one of the bird-kids I mentioned earlier that are staying with Cullen's. She is also the one I imprinted on. I heard that Sam had invited Emily and figured I would let her meet some of the pack members, I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," Billy said, "Well Shayne it is nice to meet you. I am Billy Black and am glad to have you here tonight. Why don't you guys come on in Jacob is about to die of hunger. Or at least he is acting like it. Shayne hope you don't mind fighting for the little bit of food you will eat those kids act like animals at mealtimes."

"I don't mind fighting for food," I said, "But I won't be fighting for a little bit of anything. I will be fighting for quite a large amount of food and I won't be fighting fair either." I finished with a mischievous grin. We walked into the door and followed Billy Black to the kitchen. Sitting at the table was the group from earlier and a number of others I hadn't met yet. As I walked into the kitchen they all turned and stared at me. Upon realizing me from earlier Jacob stood up and walked over to me.

"Hey Shayne," He said, "I'm assuming that Mathew invited you over because he heard Sam mention bringing Emily." I just nodded my head,

"Yes I invited her." Mathew said walking into the kitchen at that time followed by Billy. "Your dad said it was ok if she stayed so save some food for her please. She isn't like us exactly so she won't be able to fight for food."

"That is what you think." I muttered under my breath. "I'm probably tougher then you'll ever be."When I said that, just about everyone laughed at me like they understood me, which kind of startled me. "What is so funny? I know that I have been through more pain and suffering than any one of you."

"You said you were tougher than Mathew will ever be." One of the werewolves I hadn't met yet said still laughing slightly, "But yet you are the scrawniest person in this room."

"What do you mean," a woman with scars on the right side of her face asked, "about having been through more pain and suffering than any of us?"

"What do I mean?" I asked her then gave her the answer by showing the tips of my wings to everyone in the room, "True I was born with these, but because of them I was kidnapped at the age of 5, experimented on, and tortured for trying to escape. Not only that, I found out a few days ago when my uncle finally helped me escape that his coworkers had murdered my mom who also had wings. I can show you my back to prove it if you don't believe me" I finished starting to take my coat off

"She is telling the truth." Mathew said, "I saw the scars on her back myself as did Jacob, Sam and Seth. And those wings she showed you are much larger then this room which is why she only showed the tips. Jacob Sam and Seth saw their full span as well. If you don't believe both of us ask Jacob and the other two they should vouch for us."

"He is right," Sam said, "Her back is covered with scars and claw marks and her full wing span is about 16 ft long from tip to tip, she tried to intimidate us with them when we barged in unexpectedly without knocking. 


	14. Chapter 16 and 17

Story of a bird-kid 16

**Mathew's POV**

"Come on, we are running late" I told her jumping off the porch and phasing into my wolf for started towards the woods. Shayne, changing into her wolf form and following after me. After about a minute my thoughts started to wander. I thought about telling Billy Black that the Cullen's had held me up by not letting me see Shayne and Shayne suddenly stopped in her tracks. I heard her stop running and turned to see what was wrong. As we changed back to out human forms to talk I saw her glaring at me

"What's wrong Shayne?" I asked her worried about her back bothering her

"You are not going to try and get the Cullen's in trouble." She told me, "They are being kind enough to try and save us from a group of Vampire's that are after us for our unique abilities and I will not tolerate you getting them in trouble by claiming that they wouldn't let you see me when Carlisle said you could see me any time you wanted to. If you are going to lie about it I am turning around and going right back to the Cullen's place."

"How did you know I was thinking about lying about the Cullen's?" I asked her instantly curious.

"I heard you clear as day." She said, "I thought you were telling me you were doing it and you had turned back to your human form. When I looked you were still in your wolf form so I stopped in my tracks and you know the rest."

Can you read my mind now?" I asked her wondering if she had developed a new ability, and she shook her head no. I continued, "I am going to change into my wolf form and I am going to ask you the same thing with you as a human, then I want you to change and think you answer does that sound good?"

"Yes that makes sense." She said and I changed into my wolf form. After about a minute or two she shook her head no and then changed herself.

'_Can you hear me now?' _I asked her

'_Yes I can hear you now.'_ she said in response

'_Are you by any chance part Quileute Indian?'_

'_I could be but I am not really sure. I think either my mom or dad mentioned being part Indian before I was taken because I had a school project about heritage. Why do you ask?'_

'_Because we Quileute wolves have the ability to communicate with each other when we are transformed and that is what you appear to be able to do.' _

'_That is interesting, are you saying I can read the minds of the Quileute werewolves?'_

'_It appears that way, now come on we need to get going. I promise not to blame the Cullen's for being late. But if we wait any longer the food will most likely be gone.'_

With that we took off once again and not long after that we ran out of the woods onto the Quileute reservation and changed back to our normal forms and walked toward the last house on the reservation.

"You ready to meet my pack?" I asked her and walking up onto the porch,

"Ready as I'll ever be." She said starting to look uncomfortable.

"I should warn you," I said, "That Billy Black is in a wheelchair so that you don't stare at him. He is Jacob's dad. Jacob you met earlier at the Cullen's house he was the larger one of the group." With that I went up the stairs and rang the doorbell

"Mathew there you are." Billy said when he answered the door, "What took you so long to get here? Did you get held up on patrol or something? Oh who is this?" He asked when he saw Shayne behind me.

"This is Shayne."I told him moving to the side so he could see her, "She is one of the bird-kids I mentioned earlier that are staying with Cullen's. She is also the one I imprinted on. I heard that Sam had invited Emily and figured I would let her meet some of the pack members, I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," Billy said, "Well Shayne it is nice to meet you. I am Billy Black and am glad to have you here tonight. Why don't you guys come on in Jacob is about to die of hunger. Or at least he is acting like it. Shayne hope you don't mind fighting for the little bit of food you will eat those kids act like animals at mealtimes."

"I don't mind fighting for food," Shayne said, "But I won't be fighting for a little bit of anything. I will be fighting for quite a large amount of food and I won't be fighting fair either." she finished with a mischievous grin. She walked into the door and we followed Billy to the kitchen me stopping at the door. Sitting at the table was Sam, Seth, Jacob, Leah, Quil, Embry, Paul and Emily. Once Jacob recognized her he stood up and walked over to her.

"Hey Shayne," He said, "I'm pretty sure you don't know any of the others so how about some introductions. You already know me, Sam Seth and Mathew but the others are Leah, Quil, Embry, Paul and Emily." As he said each person's name they acknowledged themselves in some way or other. "I am assuming that Mathew invited you because he heard Sam mention bringing Emily."

"Yes I invited her." I said walking all the way into the kitchen at that time followed by Billy. "Your dad said it was ok if she stayed so save some food for her please. She isn't like us exactly so she won't be able to fight for food."

"That is what you think." She muttered under her breath. "I'm probably tougher then you'll ever be."When she said that everyone started to laugh at her answer, "What is so funny? I know as a fact that I have been through more pain and suffering than any one of you."

"You said you were tougher than Mathew will ever be." Embry said, "But yet you are the scrawniest person in this room."

"What do you mean," Emily asked Shayne, "about having been through more pain and suffering than any of us?"

"What do I mean?" Shayne asked, showing us the tips of her wings unable to extend them any farther without clipping someone or something in the kitchen with them. "True I was born with these, but because of them I was kidnapped at the age of 5, experimented on, and tortured for trying to escape. Not only that, I found out a few days ago when my uncle finally helped me escape that his coworkers had murdered my mom who also had wings. I can show you my back to prove it if you don't believe me" then she started to take off her coat to do just that.

"She is telling the truth." I said, "I saw the scars on her back myself as did Jacob, Sam and Seth. And those wings she showed you are much larger then this room which is why she only showed the tips. Jacob Sam and Seth saw their full span as well. If you don't believe both of us ask Jacob and the other two they should vouch for us."

"He is right," Sam said, "Her back is covered with scars and claw marks and her full wing span is about 16 ft long from tip to tip, she tried to intimidate us with them when we barged in unexpectedly without knocking. The Cullen's are kind of used to it but Shayne and her flock not so much."

"We believe you already," Quil said, "We'll shut up about it if you will all stop trying to prove it to us. I am getting starved can we please eat?"

"Let Emily and Shayne get their food first." Sam said, "You have to remember that they aren't as indestructible as the rest of us."

"Let Emily get her food," Shayne said taking her coat entirely off, hanging it on the back of a chair that Jacob had gone to get for her and then she sat down. "I would more than likely steal just about all the food and you wouldn't get much of anything.

"Right," Embry said, "How much do you weigh?

"I probably weigh around 90 pounds." Shayne said, "But I will still eat more than you I can pretty much guarantee it."

Story of a bird kid 17

**Shayne's POV**

"Let Emily get her food," I said taking my coat entirely off, hanging it on the back of a chair that Jacob had gone to get for me and then I sat down. "I would more than likely steal just about all the food and you wouldn't get much of anything.

"Right," Embry said, "How much do you weigh?

"I probably weigh around 90 pounds." I said, "But I will still eat more than you I can pretty much guarantee it."

"How much you want to bet on that." he said staring me down.

"You're on for 50 bucks." I said a newly discovered competitive side kicking in and causing me to stare him down as well. To my surprise Embry looked away first but only after saying

"I'll take that bet". I had a feeling that the two of us would most likely become good friends because we were both really competitive. Emily got her food and moved away from the table. Once she had gotten out of the way we all jumped at the food me and Embry glaring at each other. You know how I mentioned I wouldn't fight fair for food? I was telling the truth. I used my shape shifting ability (paws, claws, talons etc.) to get quite a bit of food and once that food was gone I asked for more.

"Oh my god you weren't lying." Embry said staring at me in amazement and favoring a cut up left hand from where he had gotten in the way of my shape shifting ability; that was after I had downed three more plates of food courtesy of Emily and asked if there was any dessert. As he reached into his pocket and pulled out a wallet Emily sat a huge slice of triple chocolate cake in front of me. Within a matter of 40 seconds I was 50 bucks richer, finished with the slice of cake Emily had given me and asking for another. By the time I finished the second slice of cake even Mathew was staring at me in amazement

"What?" I asked, "I told you guys I ate a lot. I think it has something to do with my ability to shape shift as well as my genetic code. All of my flock members eat a lot of food but I eat more that the 2 oldest together. Thank you for the lovely food and it was nice to meet you all, I should probably get going Alice and Rosalie, are forcing me to go clothing shopping for school tomorrow so I don't want to stay too late."

"I'll walk you home," Mathew said getting up as I was putting my coat on. Glancing at the clock and shocked that it was almost 11:00 I made a snap decision.

"No Mathew," I said, "You can go ahead and stay here. I was going to fly home anyway so I can get home faster."

"At least let me walk you to the door." Mathew told me as I started to walk to the door.

"I'll be perfectly fine." I told him and kept walking, "I'm just going back to the Cullen's place." At that time I reached the door and jumped off of the porch directly to the ground, looked around to make sure no one was nearby that didn't know about my wings and taking a running start I jumped into the air and unfurled my wings. As I jumped into the sky I heard gasping and looking around saw every last person that had been at the Black's house staring at me from the porch. Everyone except Jacob, Seth, Sam and Mathew all of who had already seen my wings earlier that is. Suddenly I felt really hot all of a sudden and shot across the sky trying not to scream my head off. Within seconds I was above the Cullen house and I landed folding in my wings. As I hit the ground flapping my wings gently to try and cool them down the door to the Cullen's home flew open and Max, Angel, Fang, Edward and Jasper were out the door. I was freaking out over what had just happened and suddenly I felt calm.

"Thanks Jasper," Edward said, "Are you ok Shayne?"

"Yes never been better," I said, "Does anyone know what just happened to me?"

"Yes," Max Angel and Fang said at once.

"You have the same ability as Max does." Angel said and Fang nodded in response.

"The ability of supersonic flight," Max said, "Has come in quite handy for me at times when it comes to fighting. Now we can race once you can control it better. So how was dinner with the wolves?"

"It was quite fun actually," I said smiling and thinking about Embry's cut up hand and the numerous others that had gotten in my way. When Angel had read my mind she and Edward both started grinning

"What did the wolves do too you?" Edward asked

"They made the mistake of misjudging me." I said, "They figured that because I am so skinny that I wouldn't eat as much as them. They told me to get my food before they descended on it and I told them that I would end up taking all of it so I discovered a thing for competition and made a bet with Embry I think it was. By the time the meal was done I had eaten more than any of them and was asking for dessert. Now I am no longer misjudged by those specific wolves and am 50 bucks richer. I amazed them when I took off though, they had followed me outside and when I unfurled my wings they all gasped in shock. Then I discovered the ability of supersonic flight and you know the rest."

"Would someone please tell me what is going on?" Max asked, "What did Shayne do to the wolves? I'm kind of in the dark here and don't like it."

"Shayne used her shape shifting ability on them." Edward said, "She used claws, paws, talons and numerous other sharp nails to fight for her food.


	15. Chapter 18

I do not own any of the Flock members they all belong to James Patterson. Likewise I also don't own the Cullen's, Sam, Jacob, Seth, Leah, Bella, or any Twilight characters they belong to the wonderful Stephanie Meyers. All I own are Shayne, Emily Seville, Sarah, Mathew and Nikki. Keep forgetting to give those two credits for the wonderful book series' they created.

Story of a Bird Kid 18

**Max POV**

"Max," Angel said suddenly while She, Fang, Jasper and I were all playing cards and Edward was watching Angel of course was winning. A word for the wise, never play cards with a 6 year old mind reader, unless of course you can block her out. "We should probably be outside when Shayne lands. She just discovered the ability of supersonic speed like you and she is kind of freaking out. Jasper and Edward should be there as well" With that we all got up and headed outside just as Shayne landed in the yard trying really hard to not freak out when suddenly she calmed down marginally.

"Thanks Jasper," Edward said, "Are you ok Shayne?"

"Yes never been better," Shayne said, "Does anyone know what just happened to me?"

"Yes," Angel, Fang and I all said.

"You have the same ability as Max does." Angel said and Fang nodded in response.

"The ability of supersonic flight," I told her determined to get in my piece, "Has come in quite handy for me at times when it comes to fighting. Now we can race once you can control it better. So how was dinner with the wolves?"

"It was quite fun actually," Shayne said starting to grin. Within 30 seconds Angel and Edward were grinning as well.

"What did the wolves do too you?" Edward asked

"They made the mistake of misjudging me." Shayne said, "They figured that because I am so skinny that I wouldn't eat as much as them. They told me to get my food before they descended on it and I told them that I would end up taking all of it so I discovered a thing for competition and made a bet with Embry I think it was. By the time the meal was done I had eaten more than any of them and was asking for dessert. Now I am no longer misjudged by those specific wolves and am 50 bucks richer. I amazed them when I took off though, they had followed me outside and when I unfurled my wings they all gasped in shock. Then I discovered the ability of supersonic flight and you know the rest."

"Would someone please tell me what is going on?" I asked uncomfortable with being kept in the dark, "What did Shayne do to the wolves? I'm kind of in the dark here and don't like it."

"Shayne used her shape shifting ability on them." Edward said, "She used claws, paws, talons and numerous other sharp nails to fight for her food. And she landed a good blow or two on Embry and Jacob."

"Nice, were either one of them one of the 4 that busted in earlier?" I asked, "I know that Shayne more than likely didn't hurt Mathew too much but if she attacked any of the other 3 I would be very happy and support her entirely."

"Yes," Edward said, "Jacob was the biggest one of the group. By what Shayne was thinking she didn't get him too well she mostly targeted Embry."

"Oh well," I said, "I still approve of the use of your shape shifting ability to fight for food with those wolves. I would have loved to have been the one doing that though. When those guys just busted into the house I nearly tried to rip their heads off because I thought they were attacking us."

"I know," Shayne said, "I just about did the same thing when they busted through Carlisle's office door only difference is that I would have more than likely gone wolf on them if the intimidation hadn't worked." The next minute Alice had appeared beside or little gathering.

"Hey you guys," she said, "you should probably get to bed so we can go shopping without you complaining the whole time because you are tired. We don't have to worry about it because I know that it is supposed to rain all day long tomorrow in Seattle so Rosalie and I are safe as well as any other vampire that wants to come along. If Mathew wants to come as well Shayne he can. As a matter of fact he probably should if only to provide more protection. I am pretty sure that he will come by at some point tomorrow morning and we can ask him then. Yes we have a werewolf coming because my vision of our shopping trip just vanished. Night you guys."

"I forgot to ask you earlier," Shayne said, "We were wondering why you guys have to live in the rainiest place in the continental US."

"So we can go out in the daytime of course." Alice said, "If we go out into the sunlight our bodies sparkle like diamonds and people would know that we aren't human, therefore we can stay in a place for longer periods of time without attracting suspicion."

"That makes sense." I said,

"Night," Angel suddenly said and started walking into the house, "Come on guys, we need to show Shayne where we are crashing for our stay here."

"Yes, let's do it." I said, "We should be comfortable sleeping inside for once. Because the whole back part of the house is a wall of glass windows and considering we all get separate rooms we have no real need to start feeling claustrophobic."

**Shayne POV**

"Hey you guys," Alice said, suddenly appearing by our little group "you should probably get to bed so we can go shopping without you complaining the whole time because you are tired. We don't have to worry about it because I know that it is supposed to rain all day long tomorrow in Seattle so Rosalie and I are safe as well as any other vampire that wants to come along. If Mathew wants to come as well Shayne he can. As a matter of fact he probably should if only to provide more protection. I am pretty sure that he will come by at some point tomorrow morning and we can ask him then." Suddenly she stopped talking for a minute staring into space. After a few seconds she started talking again with a renewed energy. "Yes we have a werewolf coming because my vision of our shopping trip just vanished. Night you guys."

"I forgot to ask you earlier," I said, remembering my question from earlier "We were wondering why you guys have to live in the rainiest place in the continental US."

"So we can go out in the daytime of course." Alice said, "If we go out into the sunlight our bodies sparkle like diamonds and people would know that we aren't human, therefore we can stay in a place for longer periods of time without attracting suspicion."

"That makes sense." Max said,

"Night," Angel suddenly said and started walking into the house, "Come on guys, we need to show Shayne where we are crashing for our stay here."

"Yes, let's do it." Max said again, "We should be comfortable sleeping inside for once. Because the whole back part of the house is a wall of glass windows and considering we all get separate rooms we have no real need to start feeling claustrophobic." As we walked up the stairs Max stopped us on the second floor and opened a door next to Carlisle's office, "Shayne, this is your room. Carlisle said to put you in here so that if you need him, all you have to do is say his name and he will come, seeing as he will be in his office all night. My room is about three doors down from here, Angel's room is next door to yours, Fang's is next to mine, Iggy on the other side of his, Nudge's across the hall from mine and Gassy's is next to the bathroom down the hall. Your book bag is on a chair in the corner, Alice brought it up earlier while you were beating up the werewolves and fighting for food." Suddenly we heard laughter and saw Emmett, Rosalie and Alice standing by the doorway cracking up.

"What?" I asked them, "Are you laughing about?"

"You actually fought over food with the werewolves?" Alice asked still laughing slightly "I would have loved to see the looks on their faces when you did that."

"I figured that they would let you get food first," Rosalie said,

"They did try to make me," I said, "But Embry apparently is very competitive and when I told them that I would eat more than all of them, he didn't believe me. He asked how much I weighed and when I told him he mentioned a bet and I discovered a competitive side as well."

"I would have loved to see their reaction when you accepted that bet." Rosalie said again.

"Way to go Shayne," Emmett said, "You show them who the better person is or would it be animal considering they are wolves and you are a shape shifter as well as part bird."

"I consider myself an Avian American," I said, "So it is really only about point of view. Now would you people please go away so that I can go to bed? I don't know about the rest of you but I can't function on little or no sleep and if you are planning on forcing me to shop on no sleep you will have an extremely unsuccessful and very stressful trip and we will all be very unhappy."

"Night Shayne," Everyone said and I was alone at last. I changed into a shirt and sweats and went to the bathroom to finish getting ready. After finishing getting ready and changing the bandage's on my leg and shocked to still see clean cuts all across my leg and planning to tell Carlisle about my worries first thing in the morning. When I returned to my room Fang was sitting on my bed.

"What is it Fang?" I asked curious, "I was getting ready to go to sleep."

"I just wanted to make sure you were absolutely alright after everything that happened today." He said, "That last attack you had above the Quileute Reservation had you blacking out for a bit and had all of us worried, and then the thing with Mathew was kind of strange."

"I'm fine," I told him, "That thing with Mathew would have happened at some point no matter what, and I am completely recovered from that last brain attack courtesy of my so-called Uncle Jeb. Are you serious about me blacking out or are you just trying to stir up trouble?"

"I am serious." Fang said standing up, "If you are ok then get to sleep. I have a feeling that we will be getting up really early tomorrow morning so Alice and Rosalie can take us to Seattle." With that he walked out the door and shut it gently behind him. As I landed sprawled on the bed I was wondering why Fang had a sudden interest in me. Within a minute my thoughts about Fang had stopped and I was sound asleep. I know that I fell asleep because I had my old nightmare again. I once again sat up screaming and this time found not only my flock members staring at me in concern but the Cullen's as well.

"Sorry guys," I said, "I didn't mean to wake any of you up."

"Did you have the nightmare again?" Iggy asked staring directly at me with his cloudy blind eyes in the strange way he had. "You were screaming in the same basic way that you did when we last were together."

"Yes I did," I said, "It was different though, instead of getting separated from you guys like it used to be we are all here together and we go to a nearby clearing with Alice and all those other vampires from the old dream and meet the werewolves for their assistance after the Volturi show up and start fighting us. Once it seems that we are going to be defeated that wolf and that little girl sow up once again and we beat the Volturi so that they leave and then we come back here and Mathew comes with us. We stay here for a while and then we have to leave. Alice is there any chance you could keep an eye on the Volturi and be able to see them coming?"

"Yes I can and…" once again she got that far off look like she was somewhere else and both Edward and Angel started frowning as well. After a few minutes Alice blinked and shook her head slightly. "Well that certainly didn't take long." Alice said, "The Volturi need to return to Voltera Italy for some celebration but they will be coming here in about a month. That gives us enough time to get the group together again and to coordinate with the pack."

"Oh yeah," I said suddenly, "I think we have an easier way to coordinate with the werewolves. I can communicate with them if we are in our wolf forms. With me discovering my ability of supersonic flight and our shopping trip and the excitement of fighting with and defeating werewolves in a competition for food it slipped my mind until you mentioned coordination with the pack."

"Yes that is a slight bonus." Edward said, "I can coordinate with you through Angel and you can coordinate with the wolves. I wonder if you can communicate with the pack because you are Quileute Indian. That would explain your skin complexion but not much else except for the shape changing. Your hair wasn't black like that until you went into Sacramento, it was a dark brown almost black color but it was most definitely not black like it is now."

"My mom mentioned me being part Indian," I said, "But she never told me what tribe if any. My mom had brown hair and my dad had black hair. When I was younger and before I was kidnapped everyone said I looked more like my dad. No one knew about my wings of course so they had no clue how wrong they were; that I wasn't really anything like my dad. My mom mentioned living in Washington before I was born and when I was a really little baby but then she said we moved to Arizona before I was one year old. She said I started walking when I was about 5 months old and I started flying perfectly by the time I turned 8 months old. I am fine so you can all leave so I can get back to sleep." With that everyone left the room and the door closed behind them. I lay back down and once again was asleep in a matter of minutes. After sleeping for a little bit longer I once again woke up, only difference from the first time was that I bolted up into a sitting position, holding my head and biting the inside of my mouth so hard I tasted my blood so I wouldn't scream again and wake everyone up because Jeb was yet again trying to get into my head. Once the pain disappeared I felt the hairs of my neck stand up and looking around I saw Mathew sitting in the chair my bag had been on and sleeping. He must have heard me moving around because he was suddenly wide awake and by my bed.

"Carlisle let me in." Mathew explained, "He heard me outside and invited me in. He also told me you woke up screaming. Are you ok?"

"Yeah I am fine," I told him, "I just had that nightmare I used to have when I was younger except that it had changed slightly."

"Well what woke you up this time?" Mathew asked, "Was it the nightmare again or something else?"

"Nothing that you need to worry about unless I am flying and you need to catch me when I fall out of the sky."


	16. Chapter 19

Story of a bird kid 19

**Fang POV**

I walked into Shayne's room to check up on her because of what had happened to her in the past couple of months particularly about what had happened in the past couple of days. When I walked into her room she wasn't in there so I sat on her bed to wait for her. After a few minutes she walked into the room and seeing me on the bed stopped

"What is it Fang?" she asked curiosity in her expression, "I was getting ready to go to sleep."

"I just wanted to make sure you were absolutely alright after everything that happened today."I told her, "That last attack you had above the Quileute Reservation had you blacking out for a bit and had all of us worried, and then the thing with Mathew was kind of strange."

"I'm fine," She told me jumping to her own defense, I remembered her stubborn attitude from when we were younger and knowing that even if she was hurting she wouldn't admit it. "That thing with Mathew would have happened at some point no matter what, and I am completely recovered from that last brain attack courtesy of my so-called Uncle Jeb. Are you serious about me blacking out or are you just trying to stir up trouble?"

"I am serious." I told her standing up, "If you are ok then get to sleep. I have a feeling that we will be getting up really early tomorrow morning so Alice and Rosalie can take us to Seattle." With that I walked to the door and shut it behind me gently before walking to my room and shutting my door. After a few hours of me using the laptop we stole from Itex to update my blog, I shut it down and setting it on the table by my bed I heard Shayne wake up screaming and ran down the hall. Joined quickly by the other residents of the house I opened Shayne's door and we all filed into her bedroom. Within seconds of Nudge walking into the room last Shayne suddenly sat up still screaming and looked quickly around.

"Sorry guys," She said once she realized where she was and why we were all in her room staring at her in concern, "I didn't mean to wake any of you up."

"Did you have the nightmare again?" Iggy asked staring uncannily where Shayne's bed was located. "You were screaming in the same basic way that you did when we last were together."

"Yes I did," Shayne said fully awake now, "It was different though, instead of getting separated from you guys like it used to be we are all here together and we go to a nearby clearing with Alice and all those other vampires from the old dream and meet the werewolves for their assistance after the Volturi show up and start fighting us. Once it seems that we are going to be defeated that wolf and that little girl sow up once again and we beat the Volturi so that they leave and then we come back here and Mathew comes with us. We stay here for a while and then we have to leave. Alice is there any chance you could keep an eye on the Volturi and be able to see them coming?"

"Yes I can and…" Alice stopped dead and got a faraway look in her face and both Edward and Angel started frowning. After a few minutes Alice blinked and shook her head slightly. "Well that certainly didn't take long." She said, "The Volturi need to return to Voltera Italy for some celebrations but they will be coming here in about a month. That gives us enough time to get the group together again and to coordinate with the pack."

"Oh yeah," Shayne suddenly said, "I think we have an easier way to coordinate with the werewolves. I can communicate with them if we are in our wolf forms. With me discovering my ability of supersonic flight and our shopping trip and the excitement of fighting with and defeating werewolves in a competition for food it slipped my mind until you mentioned coordination with the pack."

"Yes that is a slight bonus." Edward said, "I can coordinate with you through Angel and you can coordinate with the wolves. I wonder if you can communicate with the pack because you are Quileute Indian. That would explain your skin complexion but not much else except for the shape changing. Your hair wasn't black like that until you went into Sacramento, it was a dark brown almost black color but it was most definitely not black like it is now."

"My mom mentioned me being part Indian," Shayne said, "But she never told me what tribe if any. My mom had brown hair and my dad had black hair. When I was younger and before I was kidnapped everyone said I looked more like my dad. No one knew about my wings of course so they had no clue how wrong they were; that I wasn't really anything like my dad. My mom mentioned living in Washington before I was born and when I was a really little baby but then she said we moved to Arizona before I was one year old. She said I started walking when I was about 5 months old and I started flying perfectly by the time I turned 8 months old. I am fine so you can all leave so I can get back to sleep." When she said that, we all left the room and left her alone. About 3 hours later I was walking to the kitchen to get something I could snack on when I heard someone talking in Shayne's room

"Carlisle let me in." The voice said, and I recognized Mathew's voice "He heard me outside and invited me in. He also told me you woke up screaming. Are you ok?"

"Yeah I am fine," Shayne told him, "I just had that nightmare I used to have when I was younger except that it had changed slightly."

"Well what woke you up this time?" Mathew asked, "Was it the nightmare again or something else?"

"Nothing that you need to worry about unless I am flying and you need to catch me when I fall out of the sky." Shayne said, with the way she said it I knew that she had had another brain attack but because I hadn't heard anything I wasn't too worried so I continued walking to the kitchen. When I walked through the door Max was sitting at the table eating some of the cookies that Esme had produced out of a cupboard that we had managed not to eat.

"Can I join you?" I asked her and she just nodded. After I sat down she pushed the pack of cookies toward me and I took a few. "So what are you thinking is up with Shayne's nightmare coming back and being different?" I asked.

"It seems likely to me that Shayne is physic when it comes to the flock." Max said, getting up to get a glass of milk. "If that is true that brings her abilities up to 3 in just as many days. She may end up getting even more powers than Angel has but then again, she could not get any more new abilities."

"That is what I was thinking," I told Max, "Those nightmares of hers are not normal, especially when they change and come back when the Cullen's bring us here to protect us. I am wondering if maybe Shayne stopped having those nightmares because the Volturi forgot about us, and then your little adventure in Germany brought their attention to us again." Max suddenly glared at me and opened her mouth to interrupt me and I said, "What? I am just taking a guess considering you made a spectacular display overseas while me Iggy and the Gasman stayed in America."

"You are right." Max said, "It could have been my fault. Then again they could have still remembered about us and had given up on us."

"That could be possible," I said, "But then what could have triggered them to come after us again, unless they are in league with Itex, The School or the Institute and Shayne having finally escaped from the School, they got in touch with the Director and she let them know so they went on the hunt."

"Again that could also be possible." Max said, "Maybe we should go get into bed, if Alice is anything like Nudge is when it comes to shopping she will have us up and getting ready as soon as humanly possible. Just by interacting with her for the little time we have been here she seems remarkably like Nudge."

"Sounds good," I said standing up and finishing my last cookie, "We may be able to figure out why the Volturi are after us again easier in the morning after we have at least some sleep in a comfortable bed without having to worry about getting attacked."

"Yeah," Max said standing up as well, "We'll have a flock meeting tomorrow to talk about it with the other and see if they have any ideas as to what caused Shayne's nightmare/possible premonition to return. With that she walked out of the kitchen and with my raptor hearing I heard her go up to her room and shut the door. I grabbed a cup and poured some milk out for me which I drank quickly and putting that cup into the sink I also headed up the stairs. As I got to the top of the stairs Shayne opened her door and shutting it quietly behind her spun around and nearly ran into me jumping slightly when she saw me.

"Hey Fang," she said when she saw me, "Is there any food left in the kitchen?"

"Yeah," I said, "For the Cullen's being a coven of vampires, there is a surprising amount of food down there, and you just need to look around for what they have. Max and I were eating the rest of a pack of cookies that were in the cabinet beside the fridge. There were a few more packs of cookies in there as well as a few other things and there is plenty of other food as well."

"Thanks Fang," Shayne said, "Mathew is in my room asleep so I figured that I would get something to snack on."

**Shayne POV**

After a time, Mathew fell asleep on the foot of my bed and I realized that I was hungry again. I got off of the bed without moving it and headed out of the room. I quietly opened and closed the door behind me and spinning around suppressed a shout as I saw Fang standing behind me.

"Hey Fang," I told him when I had figured out who it was, "Is there any food left in the kitchen?"

"Yeah," Fang told me, "For the Cullen's being a coven of vampires, there is a surprising amount of food down there, and you just need to look around for what they have. Max and I were eating the rest of a pack of cookies that were in the cabinet beside the fridge. There were a few more packs of cookies in there as well as a few other things and there is plenty of other food as well."

"Thanks Fang," I told him and suddenly feeling like I needed to let someone know about Mathew I said, "Mathew is in my room asleep so I figured that I would get something to snack on."

"I knew that he was in there." Fang told me, "I heard him telling you that Carlisle let him in and asking you if you were ok. You had another brain attack didn't you?" I nodded my head in response and he said, "Sounds like you are getting used to the pain if I hadn't heard your conversation I would never have known that you had had another brain attack. Jeb seems way more eager to get into your mind then he was to get into Max's, do you know why?"

"No," I told him, "All I know is that he warned me that he would be doing it. I think it might have something to do with me being the daughter of his sister who he claims to have loved."

"Ok," Fang said, "We were planning on having a flock meeting tomorrow and seeing as it concerns you and seeing as you are a member of the flock you will be included in the discussion. Max will probably have us up at the break of dawn, so don't stay downstairs for too long." With that he turned and continued down the hall, I watched him go into his room and close the door and then I headed downstairs to scavenge for food. I had just sat down at the table with a fresh pack of cookies and a huge glass of milk when I picked up someone coming down the stairs and the front door opening at the same time with my raptor hearing and within the next minute both Alice and Mathew walked into the kitchen, Mathew with a kind of anxious expression which vanished as he saw me sitting at the table with the milk and cookies in front of me, and Alice with a kind of worried expression on her face. They both sat down at the table with me as I opened the cookies and pulled out 4.

"Are you eating again?" Mathew asked me amazed, "I can't believe that you are hungry after eating more than the rest of us wolves together at dinner."

"I told you that I ate a lot." I told him eating those cookies quickly and grabbing 4 more. "Did you think I was kidding around? I try to eat every couple of hours if I can. I always have even when I was constantly being tested on at the school. If I didn't eat I tested poorly because I couldn't keep up my energy. With some of the tests such as the ones where I had to go for as long as I could without eating I was so evil when they came near me to record the results that 9 times out of 10 I was punished for drawing blood because I bit chunks of the white coats off with my teeth." Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Alice suddenly get a faraway look in her expression for a minute and then she was back. "What did you see Alice?" I asked her noting the look of shock on her face when I looked at her. I don't think she thought I had seen her. "Don't look so shocked Alice; I am always on the alert thanks to the scientists at the school, who came to test me at all times of the day." With that I started eating the next group of cookies.

"I should have figured as much." Alice said, "Your entire flock is always on the alert, must be a side effect of being attacked so many times. That vision I just had that I didn't think you would notice was of the Volturi. It turns out that they are in league with the Itexicon Corporation."

I am begging you on my hands and knees to review this story and let me know what you think of it. I want to thank Miz636 who has reviewed from the start and encouraged me to keep writing this story.


	17. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride or Twilight JP and Stephanie Meyers do. I just own Shayne and any characters not mentioned in those books**

Story of a Bird Kid 20

Previously on "The Story of a Bird Kid":

"I should have figured as much." Alice said, "Your entire flock is always on the alert, must be a side effect of being attacked so many times. That vision I just had that I didn't think you would notice was of the Volturi. It turns out that they are in league with the Itexicon Corporation."

**Shayne POV**

"It turns out that they are in league with the Itexicon Corporation." As Alice said that I stiffened visibly and Mathew did as well due to my reaction. I stiffened because I had known for years that the school was a branch of Itex. Alice continued as if she didn't notice my reaction. "When you escaped from the school someone known as the "Director" let the Volturi know and that is why they are hunting for you with two trackers instead of the usual one. Aro is bragging about it in the future before the battle begins. "

"How do you know that Alice," I asked, "Are the wolves not fighting the battle with us now?"

"No the wolves are still fighting with us." Alice said as Mathew suddenly stood up, "I don't know how but I was suddenly able to see the future even with the pack's involvement." With that Mathew sat down again and I grabbed 4 more cookies.

"So, Alice," I said eating a cookie and taking a swig of milk. "If you can now see the future when the wolves are still involved what is going to happen during the shopping trip you and Rosalie have planned for us?" When I asked her that, Alice suddenly got a very evil looking grin on her face that made me feel really uncomfortable.

"We get in a full day of shopping and you have fun until something comes up." Was all the answer I got as I finished eating the other three cookies, and growling low under my breath as Mathew went to grab one I snapped my teeth at his hand and he quickly retracted his hand in shock while Alice grinned like a maniac with glee about me snapping at my imprint's hand. Once again I grabbed 4 more cookies and grabbing a 5th one as I ate the first one I finished off half of the pack.

"Can I please have a cookie Shayne," Mathew asked me, "You're torturing me with them"

"Get your own," I told him, "There is another pack of cookies in the cabinet next to the fridge if you want some, these ones are mine." Again a look at Alice showed that she loved my attitude toward Mathew stealing my snack. When I pointed Mathew toward the cabinet in question he got up and grabbed a pack of cookies as well. In that time I had grabbed up 4 more cookies and eaten two of them. As Mathew sat down, Alice once again had a vision that had a grin splitting her face with excitement. As she came back from the future in her mind she looked at me and asked me the most unexpected question in my world at that time.

"Hey Shayne," she asked me, "When is your birthday?" and shocked I answered without thinking.

"May 2, 1992" I told her and nearly smacked myself in the head for letting my guard down. With that her grin surprisingly got even bigger than it had been just seconds earlier which surprised me. I quickly finished off my package of cookies and chugged the milk and setting it in the sink I ran toward the door suddenly wanting to stretch my wings and I said behind my back "I'm going to go fly for a bit I'll be back soon." And then I ran out with the door closing behind me and jumped into the sky, my wings coming out of the slits in the back of my shirt. After I had been flying in the air for about 30 seconds I thought about going fast again and within seconds I shot through the air, pulled my wings in and corkscrewed so many times I lost count before flaring out my wings and looking around.

Once I had figured out that I had no idea how far I had flown I spun back into the direction of the Cullen's house. I had flown maybe about 2 miles when I was hit from above with a force strong enough to crumple my wings and make me drop about 10 feet before I caught myself and looped around to see what had attacked me. I spun and saw about 10 erasers coming at me. I quickly turned into my eraser form that I had used to escape and fought for my life once again. When I transformed 3 of the erasers got so confused about the appearance of another eraser that they flew away from the fight until they saw I was fighting the ones that had most likely been informed of my little eraser trick and flew back into battle while another one just held back watching the fight. Within a matter of minutes I had most on the erasers down for the count and was fighting single handedly the only one left who had held back. Can you guess who that last one was?

"How is your leg?" Ari (my Ari not Max's Ari) snarled right before he lunged at me with his weird stitched on wings

"Like I am really going to tell you." I told him as he clawed my face leaving three long gashes along the whole left side missing the area around the mouth in the general vicinity of the scars on the right side of Emily's face. "Why are you after me again? I know that the Volturi are working with Itex and I know for a fact that they are on the hunt for me and the rest of my flock." As I said that Ari stopped dead long enough for me to land a good punch to his stomach area before he grabbed my fists and held them.

"What do you mean the Volturi are on the hunt for you and the flock?" He asked, "The Director told me that the Volturi are leaving you alone so that you can be recaptured."

"Yeah right," I said changing back to my normal form as we landed in a tree below us. "The Volturi have caught up with us twice in the last 12 hours but some friends stopped them from taking us by giving us fair warning so that we were in the sky before they could get there. You confuse me at times, you know that? The last couple of days you've tried to either kill me or capture me, and now you are actually having a civilized conversation with me. I didn't even know it was possible for you to have a civilized conversation."

"Well yeah," Ari told me giving me my hands back, "Most of the time I was just really mad at you because Marian, you would know her as the "Director" paid more attention to you then she did me. But now you are telling me that she has vampires hunting for you and I am worried about you." He said, much to my surprise and according to his expression, his as well. "I can't believe that I just admitted to that."

"Well you don't have to worry about me." I snapped at him, more harshly then I wanted to, "I am staying in a house full of vampire and werewolves are patrolling the forests around it as well."

"Did you say werewolves?" Ari asked me his face lighting up. "You mean wolf people like me?"

"Not exactly like you," I said, "They actually look like normal wolves that are just really big, whereas you and the other erasers look more like werewolves from a horror movie." As I said that Ari suddenly snarled at me and lunged at me just as I dropped out of the tree and flew back into the air. "Sorry but it is kind of true." I told him still hovering in the air, "I used to watch scary movies before I was taken and you looked like a werewolf when I first saw you. If you don't remember I screamed bloody murder when you first walked into the room where my cage was kept even though you just brought me food after one of the test."

"It's kind of hard to forget that," Ari said, "I'm getting a headache just remembering how loud you were screaming. You sent all of the other experiments into a frenzy and killed nearly half of them from the shock of the screams."

"I'm so not sorry." I said landing cautiously on a branch above Ari's head, "I saved those experiments from the pain that I had to endure for the past 12 years of my life." I said wiping at the left side of my face and when I pulled it away my hand was still covered in blood from the gashes on my face. "You got my face really good" I said while I ripped a sleeve off of my shirt and pushed it against my face applying pressure. After a few minutes of that I suddenly remembered Mathew who was probably about to send out a search team to look for me. "I have got to go." I told Ari, "I have to get up early tomorrow to be tortured with shopping. Beside that Mathew is probably about to rip something apart with worry."

"Who is Mathew?" Ari asked, "And why would he be getting ready to rip something apart with worry?"

"Oh Mathew is one of the werewolves," I told him, "And he will be getting ready to rip something apart because he imprinted on me. Imprinting is when a werewolf…." Ari cut me off,

"Finds his soul mate." Ari said, "I know all about it, us erasers have something really similar. The Director told us all legends about werewolves. If I am guessing correctly this Mathew is a Quileute Indian right?"

"Yes," I said, "he is Quileute. I am too apparently; I can communicate with the Quileute wolves when we are all in our wolf forms." With that I jumped out of the tree and shot up into the air at 200 mph before stopping and changing direction toward where the imprint was pulling me toward Mathew. Looking back I saw Ari jumping into the air as well and I took off at 215 mph back toward home. Within minutes I slowed down and landed in the Cullen's yard and Mathew flew out of the door, and stopped as he looked behind me in shock. I turned around and nearly shrieked as I saw Ari standing almost directly behind me.

"How the hell did you keep up with me?" I snarled at him, "I was going at least 215 miles an hour in this direction as you were getting into the sky." With that I ran across the yard into Mathew's anxious arms as he simply stared at the deformed kid standing at the edge of the Cullen property. I don't know how but Mathew saw the left side of my face and stiffened noticeably.

"What happened to you?" Mathew asked me gently tracing the three cuts on my face, "You left almost half an hour ago and when you come back you have cuts on your face like Emily only nowhere near where Sam got her."

"I was attacked by 10 erasers at once." I told him,

"Damn, you only have the three cuts," Mathew said, "You must be a formidable enemy when attacked."

"She is." Ari said, "I have been fighting with her on and off for the past 4 years. As a matter of fact, I was the one who gave her those cuts and most of the scars on her as well." Suddenly I felt a fierce shaking and looking at Mathew I saw he was trembling and blurring at the edges quite violently as he was losing his temper. Remembering what had happened to Emily when Sam had lost control I quickly got out of his arms and jumped into the air hovering above the house. Just as I got into the air Mathew phased, cloth flying everywhere, and launched himself at Ari who transformed as well. Within seconds of the two colliding I dropped to the ground and turned into my wolf form as well

'_Mathew, he didn't hurt me that badly.'_

'_He still hurt you Shayne and I can't let him live'_

'_He started out attacking me true but when I mentioned the Volturi hunting me and my flock he stopped and asked me what I meant.'_

'_Again, he still attacked you Shayne and I can't stand him because of that'_

'_I will be as good as new within the next half hour'_

'_MATHEW STOP' _I suddenly heard a new voice and looking toward the woods I saw a large black wolf stepping out of the forest followed by two other wolves. Mathew stopped and looking at the black wolf said

'_Sam, he is the one who always hurt Shayne'_

'_I KNOW' _the one I had figured out was Sam said, '_I HEARD THE WHOLE CONVERSATION YOU AND SHAYNE WERE HAVING IN YOUR MINDS. THAT STILL DOESN'T GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO KILL HIM. NOW PHASE BACK AND I WILL HAVE EVERYONE ELSE DO SO AS WELL.'_

'_Got it Sam' _Mathew said and backing down somehow managed to run into the house as a wolf and come back in minutes as a human and wearing a new pair of sweats seeing as he had destroyed the clothes he had been wearing when he had phased. As soon as he came back out of the house I glared at Ari as I turned back to my original form and went to stand by Mathew again. Sam and the other two wolves went back into the forest and when they emerged again as humans I saw Jake and Seth had been the other two wolves.

"Ari go back to your human form." I told him, "the rest of us did and we won't attack you again if you explain."

"Fine," Ari said, and turned back to his normal form.

"Are you insane?!!!" I asked him, "I told you that Mathew had imprinted on me. It was suicidal telling him that it was you that gave me most of these scars." As I finished talking Mathew started shaking again.

"Mathew calm down," Sam said firmly, "Think about Shayne before you lose your temper. Speaking of Shayne," he asked looking at me "Do you mind telling me how you were you communicating with us in your wolf form?"

"I think my dad was Quileute or at least part Quileute. My mom told me that when I was a baby we lived here in Washington for several months. As a matter of fact I can show you a picture of him." I said and pulling out my locket from under my shirt took it off before handing it to Sam. He took it and after looking at the locket he opened it and just stared at it. After studying the picture for a few minutes his eyes got wide and he looked at me in shock. He looked back at the picture and studied it a bit longer before studying me as well. By the end of his inspection I was feeling really self conscious and I was cuddling against Mathew.

"I didn't even recognize you." Sam said, handing me the locket back, "You are right you are part Quileute. Your father was my cousin and I used to babysit you all the time. You and your family all vanished in the middle of the night around 16 years ago and the family never heard from you again. When I first saw you I thought you looked slightly familiar but I couldn't place you until I saw the picture in that locket. The locket gave it away as well; I had given that locket to your mother to give to you when you were old enough. How long ago did you get it?"

"I've only had it for a few days because I was kidnapped when I was 5 and my so called uncle who was one of them, claims that he didn't know where I was until a few years ago and he only just helped me escape within the past couple of days when I discovered my ability to shape shift. After I escaped I found my mom's old bag where Jeb had told me it would be and I found this locket in the front most pocket."

"How are your parents?" Sam asked "Or do you not know?"

"Oh I know all right." I told him, "My mom is dead; she was murdered by the school. My dad on the other hand is living in Arizona according to Jeb and I was planning on calling him." Suddenly Sam moved toward me and wrapped me in a huge hug so tight that I could barely breathe and I quickly felt overheated because of the werewolves' excessive body heat. At least I had assumed it was the werewolves' excessive body heat because Mathew was the same way. I stiffened quickly because as well as getting way too hot, I started feeling claustrophobic with his arms wrapped around me. Feeling me stiffen Sam quickly let go and took a few steps away from me quickly

"Sorry Sam," I told him looking toward the ground, "I was forced to live in a dog crate for the past 12 years of my life and because of that I am kind of claustrophobic, I don't really care that you hugged me but I was feeling closed in and your body heat was making it hard to breath and I kind of freaked out." When I mentioned being forced to live in a dog crate for the last 12 years both Sam and Mathew nearly lost their tempers.

"You were forced to live in a dog crate?!!!!!!!!!!" Sam exclaimed really loudly. "Oh they are so lucky I can't get a hold of them otherwise I would kill them all." When Sam started shaking and blurring he simply took several deep breaths and only his hands were shaking once he was finished. Suddenly we all heard shuffling behind us in the doorway and turning around saw Angel, Nudge, and the Gasman rubbing the sleep from their eyes, and Fang, Iggy and Max standing just outside the door looking at the group converged in the yard. Max suddenly saw Ari and gasped in shock.

"Oh my god Shayne," she said, "You were right, there is an Ari clone."

"Oh," Angel said now wide awake and suddenly grinning. After a few minutes Max smiled as well

'_Shayne,' _Angel said in my mind, '_I'm glad you found another family member. You know you do sort of look like Sam does. You have some similar facial features but other than that, I never would have suspected you being part Quileute Indian.'_

'_I know Angel,' _I thought back, '_Thanks for the encouragement. Now Angel,'_

'_Yes?' _she asked sweetly,

'_Get out of my head.' _I told her and she giggled

'_Fine I will' _After fading out of my mind she continued giggling and suddenly Max turned and asked her

"What are you giggling about Angel?" Max asked,

"You know how you always tell me to get out of your head?" Angel asked and Max nodded, "Well I was just talking with Shayne and she sounded just like you. When she told me that I could really tell that she was related to you.

**Max POV**

I was having a good night sleep without dreams for once and I was suddenly woken up

"You were forced to live in a dog crate?!!!!!!!!!!" I heard a voice exclaiming "Oh they are so lucky I can't get a hold of them otherwise I would kill them all."

I quickly got up out of bed and practically ran outside followed closely by Fang and Iggy. Angel, Nudge and Gassy followed soon after all rubbing their eyes and trying to wake up fully. After I saw Shayne and the werewolves in the yard I saw Ari standing at the edge of the Cullen property and gasped in shock because Ari had died in my arms not three days ago in Germany

"Oh my god Shayne," I said, "You were right, there is an Ari clone."

"Oh," Angel said now wide awake and smiling.

'_Max,' _She said,

'_Yes sweetheart' _I asked her,

'_Sam is Shayne's second cousin.' _Angel said_ 'Her dad was Sam's first cousin. This means that Shayne is part Quileute Indian and a member of the La Push pack. That explains so much about her when she first came into the school, and it also explains why her wolf is one of her preferred shapes and why it is huge and almost as big as Sam's. The biggest difference between her wolf and everyone else's is that the Quileute pack's transformation is based on emotions and Shayne's is controlled with her mind.'_

'_Well at least she knows where to find another family member if she doesn't find and get along with her dad. While the rest of us except for Iggy of course have no idea where our parents are or even if they are alive. Oh and Angel, get out of my head like I've told you a million times' _I said and smiled thinking about how Shayne was so lucky since her escape. After a couple of minutes Angel started giggling. After she was giggling for the good part of 3 minutes I suddenly turned to face her and asked her,

"What are you giggling about Angel?" I asked,

"You know how you always tell me to get out of your head?" Angel asked me and I nodded, "Well I was just talking with Shayne and she sounded just like you. When she told me to get out of her head I could totally tell you are related to her." I started laughing as well as Angel projected Shayne's voice into my mind because she did sound exactly like me. "Well blood will tell." I said and explained to everyone present who must have thought I was crazy why I had started laughing.

"Angel here," I told them, "Can read and control minds. At times she can project thoughts into our heads. She was having conversations with first me and then Shayne and we both told her to get out of our heads. When I asked Angel why she was giggling she projected the end of her conversation with Shayne into my head. That conversation sounded so much like me that I couldn't help but laugh. Shayne is my first cousin by blood so I said blood will tell."

With that everyone was laughing and the Cullen's showed up out of nowhere and looked at the scene before them.

"Hey guys what is going on?" Carlisle asked,

"Sam is Shayne's 2nd cousin," Angel said, "We just figured out that Shayne is really Max's cousin because when they tell me to get out of their heads they sound almost exactly alike, we also figured out that Shayne was born and raised her for a little under a year before her family vanished in the middle of the night."

"Sam is Shayne's second cousin?" Alice asked, "That would explain why she smells so bad."

"Thanks Alice," Shayne said, "I love you too."

"I didn't mean it that way Shayne and you know it." Alice told her, "All the Quileute's smell bad to us, just like we smell too sweet and metallic to them, remember in Sacramento when you smelled that Volturi vampire in that alley? If you pay attention all vampires have that same basic scent just like all the wolves have the same basic scent to us. Now considering that the sun would be coming out within the next half hour anyway how about you guys go get ready to head to Seattle so we can get a head start."

"Why are you going to Seattle?" Sam asked, "And why are you going with the Cullen's?"

"Alice and Rosalie are forcing us to go shopping for school clothes." Shayne said, "I was planning on asking Mathew if he could come along with us anyway."

"Would you mind if some of the pack members came as well?" Sam asked,

"No we don't," Alice said, "As a matter of fact bring as many as you want. The more people that come the better protected Shayne and the rest of the flock will be. If you are planning on coming be back here before 8:30. That gives all of you the chance to get home, change and get something to eat before you have to be back here. If you don't want to come back here then you guys can meet up with us at the mall in Seattle."

"We'll meet you guys there." Sam said, "But Mathew has a choice, I think that he would probably prefer to go with Shayne if he can."

"Well Shayne what are you planning to do?" Mathew asked turning to look at Shayne still standing beside him. "If you are planning to fly there I am going with the pack but if you are riding with the vampire's then I am going with you no matter what."

"I was planning on flying home tonight," Shayne told him, "But I was going in the car with the Cullen's to Seattle this morning. I am not in the mood to fly any distance this morning after flying for so long yesterday with little rest."

"That settle's it then." Mathew said, "I'm going with the Cullen's this morning and the pack tonight if they let me while Shayne flies home."

"You can ride home with me tonight," Jacob said, "Just as long as you don't smell too much like the leeches"

"Jacob," Sam said, "Don't call them leeches. If it hadn't been for them Bella wouldn't still be alive. She would have died when she first got here and that van nearly crushed her."

'_Angel,' _I thought

'_Yeah Max?' _she asked,

'_Tell the rest of the flock to meet me on the roof for a flock meeting.' _I told her

'_Ok Max I'll let them know.'_ Was the answer, again after a few minutes she said, '_They know and will be up within the next 30 seconds'_

'_Thanks Angel," _I said and taking a few steps away from the rest of the group, I unfurled my wings and flew up to the roof and was soon followed by Iggy, Fang, Angel, Gassy and Nudge. Not long after the rest of us landed on the roof Shayne joined us.

**Thanks for reviewing Miz636 and ________________. If you like this story or even if you don't please review and let me know what I can do better. Any reviews would be greatly appreciated.**


	18. Chapter 21

DISCLAIMER: I regrettably don't own any of the Maximum Ride Character or Twilight Characters. They all belong to the great JP and Stephanie Meyers. I only own Mathew, Shayne and any other characters that are not in the normal books in the Maximum Ride and Twilight series.

**Story of a Bird Kid 21**

Max POV

'_Angel,' _I thought

'_Yeah Max?' _she asked,

'_Tell the rest of the flock to meet me on the roof for a flock meeting.' _I told her

'_Ok Max I'll let them know.'_ Was the answer, again after a few minutes she said, '_They know and will be up within the next 30 seconds'_

'_Thanks Angel," _I said and taking a few steps away from the rest of the group, I unfurled my wings and flew up to the roof and was soon followed by Iggy, Fang, Angel, Gassy and Nudge. Once we had all landed I looked to see where Shayne was and saw her arguing with Mathew and Sam. Not long after the rest of us landed on the roof Shayne joined us.

"Glad you could join us Shayne." I told her joking around.

"Sorry about making you wait guys," Shayne said as she landed and pulled her wings in against her back, "Mathew and Sam didn't want to let me come up here because they thought it was dangerous. I had to talk them into letting me come up here by telling them that I can sit in a tree with no problems so the roof was nowhere near as dangerous as it would be for them. So what is this meeting about?"

"Fang and I had a discussion early this morning after you had that nightmare again and we have a feeling that you may be kind of physic when it comes to the flock. That means that we have theories about what has caused the Volturi's to start hunting for us again if that is why your nightmare disappeared and then came back for the first time last night. Fang thought that they had quit looking for us because they had forgotten about us until our adventure to that German castle. Then I said that he could be right but that maybe they had simply given up on finding us. He said that that could also be true but that didn't really make sense because if they had given up on us then they wouldn't be hunting for us now unless they were working for or with Itex. We couldn't really decide on it so we wanted to ask your guys' opinion on the matter."

"Fang was right when he said they could be working for or with Itex." Shayne said and we all stared at her in shock. "What? Alice figured it out and told me when I came downstairs to get something to eat after Fang had come back upstairs and I just about ran into him coming out of my room. She said that the Aro one of the leaders was bragging about it before the battle of my nightmares."

"How does she know that?" I asked, having gotten the impression that Alice couldn't see the future if the wolves were involved in any way. "Are the wolves not fighting with us now?"

"No they are still fighting with us." Shayne said, "Alice doesn't know how but she could suddenly see the future, even with the pack involved. I saw her get that look on her face while I was talking to Mathew and when I asked her about it she looked surprised and I told her that I was used to noticing the little details. She said that she should have figured as much and then said that the entire flock is always on the alert and that it must be a side effect of constantly being attacked. Then she said that the vision she had that I had seen was of the Volturi and that they are in league with the Itexicon Corporation."

**Shayne POV**

I was still standing next to Mathew while Sam was lecturing Jacob about calling the Cullen's leeches and saying something about if it hadn't been for them Bella would have been killed by some out of control van. I heard that conversation slightly but truthfully I was focused more on my new discovery that wasn't exactly a new discovery, if you know what I mean. I was thrilled that I was a member of the Quileute wolf pack, but I felt as if I had known I was a member for most of my life. My mind kept repeating those two facts over and over and I was shocked when those thoughts were interrupted that I very nearly jumped.

'_Hey guys,' _Angels voice interrupted my thoughts, '_Max said to meet her on the roof for a flock meeting.'_

'_Ok thanks Angel,' _I thought back to her, _"I'll be on the roof in the next 30 seconds if I can get away from Mathew and Sam.' _with that I turned to Mathew and told him what was going on.

"Hey Mathew," I told him as the rest of the flock flew up to the roof. "Max wants us, as in the flock to meet her on the roof for a flock meeting."

"There is no way in hell that I am allowing you to go up on that roof." Mathew said, "It is unsafe anywhere but here with all the rain it is especially unsafe."

"Technically there is nothing you can do to stop me doing as I please." I snapped at him, my temper starting to get the better of me. "You have no control over me because you are not my guardian."

"Mathew may not be able to tell you what to do but I do." Sam said stepping in. "This is one instance where I actually agree with a younger member of the pack. The roof is not a good place for you to be with all the rain we get in this part of the world."

"I can't believe you guys!" I exclaimed, "You are treating me like I am 2 years old and wanting to do something crazy like go jump off a cliff or something! You seem to be forgetting one crucial piece of my build. I have wings you idiots and if I fall off of the roof I can hit the ground with little impact if I flare out my wings. I'm part bird for Pete's sake a roof is no challenge I can pretty much guarantee it. Now will you please let me go and join my flock?"

"Fine," Mathew said letting me go while Sam nodded his consent. "Just please be careful up there."

"No problem." I told him taking a few steps away so that I wouldn't end up clipping him with my wings. After making sure no one was within range of my 16 ft wingspan I unfurled them slowly and jumping up into the air I flew to the roof where the rest of the flock was waiting. As I landed and started getting comfortable while pulling my wings in Max spoke up.

"Glad you could join us Shayne." She said and with the tone of her voice I heard that she was just joking around

"Sorry about making you wait guys," I said, "Mathew and Sam didn't want to let me come up here because they thought it was dangerous. I had to talk them into letting me come up here by telling them that I can sit in a tree with no problems so the roof was nowhere near as dangerous as it would be for them. So what is this meeting about?"

"Fang and I had a discussion early this morning after you had that nightmare again and we have a feeling that you may be kind of physic when it comes to the flock." Max said, "That means that we have theories about what has caused the Volturi's to start hunting for us again if that is why your nightmare disappeared and then came back for the first time last night. Fang thought that they had quit looking for us because they had forgotten about us until our adventure to that German castle. Then I said that he could be right but that maybe they had simply given up on finding us. He said that that could also be true but that didn't really make sense because if they had given up on us then they wouldn't be hunting for us now unless they were working for or with Itex. We couldn't really decide on it so we wanted to ask your guys' opinion on the matter."

"Fang was right when he said they could be working for or with Itex." I said remembering the conversation I had had with Alice and Mathew earlier this morning and looking around I saw that everyone was staring at me in shock. "What? Alice figured it out and told me when I came downstairs to get something to eat after Fang had come back upstairs and I just about ran into him coming out of my room. She said that the Aro one of the leaders was bragging about it before the battle of my nightmares."

"How does she know that?" Max asked now sounding confused. "Are the wolves not fighting with us now?"

"No they are still fighting with us." I told them, "Alice doesn't know how but she could suddenly see the future, even with the pack involved. I saw her get that look on her face while I was talking to Mathew and when I asked her about it she looked surprised and I told her that I was used to noticing the little details. She said that she should have figured as much and then said that the entire flock is always on the alert and that it must be a side effect of constantly being attacked. Then she said that the vision she had that I had seen was of the Volturi and that they are in league with the Itexicon Corporation."

"Well that didn't take long," Max said, "We were going to throw around ideas for a little bit but now we know the answer to the question that was important so we should probably go and get ready for the day of torture."

"Max shopping is not torture." Nudge said, 3 2 1 I counted down in my head, and cue the Nudge Channel. "Shopping is so much fun and I love doing it. I love the idea of getting new clothes and accessories and shoes and I love the idea of being around normal people and not having to really worry about fighting for my life at a moment's notice. Did you notice that it always seems that when we go shopping we seem to be safe? Well except for yesterday at Sacramento when that Volturi vampire crashed the fun and Shayne letting her instincts take overumphhhhh….." Just in the nick of time Iggy covered her mouth just as I got the urge to punch her in the mouth to shut her up.

'_Thank you Iggy' _I thought to myself forgetting about Angel's mind reading ability and not putting up my mind barrier

"Iggy, Shayne it thanking you for shutting Nudge up." Angel said suddenly while giggling. "Nudge you really owe Iggy a thank you as well he only just shut you up in time for you to avoid getting punched by Shayne."

"Angel!!!!!" I shouted,

"Yes Shayne?" she asked innocently

"I told you earlier to stay out of my freaking head!!!"

"Sorry Shayne, I couldn't resist," Angel said, "You had your mind barrier down and it just caught my attention when your mind hit me so unexpectedly."

"That is fine Angel," I told her, "Just don't read my mind again unless I think directly to you."

"I'll try to do that." Angel said, "But your mind kind of catches my attention more that the others. I have the same problem with Max, I wonder if it is because you both have the qualities of a leader, or maybe because you are cousins and think so much alike."

"Could be Angel," I said, "but I expect you to stay out of my mind from now on unless I give you specific permission to do otherwise, got it?" I asked and as she nodded I stood up and walking to the edge of the roof jumped off flaring my wings to slow my descent and landed on the ground with barely a sound.

"What did Angel do to Max?" Mathew asked, trying not to laugh, "She sounded kind of pissed."

"She didn't do a thing to Max." I told him, "She was reading my mind and announced to everyone what I was thinking and I got mad at her. Why did you ask me what Angel did to Max?"

"Well your yelling carried down to us." Sam said, "And you sounded just like Max so we assumed that Angel had annoyed Max. Now I think we get what Max was laughing about earlier when she was trying to explain to us why she had suddenly started bursting out laughing for no apparent reason."

"Well if you need me, I will be inside taking a shower and getting ready for this freaking shopping trip that I am being forced to take." With that I turned on my heels and strode inside and up to my room. Once I had taken my shower I threw on a pair of dark jeans and a black shirt and walked out of the bathroom to my bedroom where I grabbed my I-pod and went to look for Edward. I found him sitting at the piano that I had played yesterday and playing a song way better than I. I don't know how but he heard me come in even though I was making no sound whatsoever on the floor and he straightened up to look at me.

"Esme told me that you are a very talented piano player." He said, and scooting over motioned for me to sit at the bench with him. I did very hesitantly and once I had sat down he started playing a song. After he finished playing it he turned to me and said, "Now you try to play that as close to the original version that I played as possible." I turned to the keys and after a moment of hesitation played it exactly the same without missing a single note. In response he played an even more difficult piece and recognizing the song as one I had learned to play perfectly at the age of 3 I played the same song an octave up and smiling looked at Edward. The expression on his face was one of someone who had been very impressed suddenly he flinched and within seconds he had placed a sheet of paper on the stand, and he then launched into a full blown and very challenging Mozart piece which I was playing along with him by the end of the first line of music, neither of us looking at the sheet music that Edward had put up quickly when he had "flinched".

As we finished the piece the room that I thought had been empty but for me and Edward suddenly burst into applause. Turning quickly I noticed that not only had my flock entered but the Cullen's and Mathew as well and all 13 of them were clapping.

"Well Shayne," Edward asked, "Have you played that Mozart piece before?" I shook my head no and he continued "When was the last time that played piano except for yesterday?"

"I don't know," I told him, "probably about 12 years ago, before I was kidnapped and taken to the school."

"Well then that just proves that you are a natural at playing the piano." Edward said, "Do you have any other musical talents?"

"No, I don't……." I was cut off by none other than Nudge

"Yes she does," Nudge exclaimed excitedly, "She is a really really good singer as well. On the way here yesterday she was listening to her I-pod and singing along and she was like totally amazing. She sang Animal I Have Become and a couple of other songs but she sang a song called "The Phantom of the Opera" and she sounded like a real opera star. That one was my favorite song she sang I liked it because it sounded so pretty but I also liked Animal I Have Become because it describes our lives perfectly even though it describes Shayne most because of her being a werewolf and mmmmmph…." Again she was cut off by Iggy eerily placing his hand over her mouth with amazing accuracy for a blind person.

"Is she telling the truth Shayne?" Edward asked me and I nodded

"Yes I was singing but I don't I am as good as she says I am." I told him truthfully.

"I'll judge that myself." Edward said and ran vampire speed out of the room. He returned in less than a minute with a CD player and a case that had Phantom of the Opera on the front. Plugging in the player, he opened the case and put a CD into the CD player. As he hit a few buttons the opening notes of "The Phantom of the Opera" came from the speaker. I looked at Edward and he nodded his head to motion me to sing the song and sing I did

_In Sleep he sang to me _

_In dreams he came_

_That voice which calls to me _

_And speaks my name_

_And do I dream again_

_For now I find_

_The Phantom of the Opera is there inside my mind_

Suddenly when the phantoms part came someone started to sing along and glancing around I saw Mathew singing as well

_**Sing once again with me **_

_**Our strange duet**_

_**My power over you grows stronger yet**_

_**And though you turn from me to glance behind**_

_**The Phantom of the Opera is there inside your mind**_

_Those who have seen your face _

_Draw back in Fear_

_I am the mask you wear_

_**It's me they hear**_

_Your/my spirit and my/your voice_

_In one combined_

_The Phantom of the Opera is there inside my/your mind_

_**In all your fantasies **_

_**You always knew**_

_**That man and mystery **_

Were both in you

_And in the labyrinth_

_Where night is blind_

_The Phantom of the Opera is there _

_Inside my/your mind_

_**Sing, my angel of music!**_

_He's there, the Phantom of the Opera_

_Ah!_

_**Sing, my angel, sing**_

_Ah!_

_**Sing for me!**_

_Ah!_

_**Sing, my angel of music**_

_Ah!_

I hit the last high note without any trouble and still breathing normally.

"Bravo, Bravo" I heard several voices shout at once and looking around saw that Jacob, Seth and Leah had joined the group and were staring at me and Mathew in shock while everyone else was cheering for us.

After a few minutes Alice and Rosalie said it was time to head to Seattle and we all headed out to the garage to divide into the cars as Jacob, Seth and Leah headed out into the driveway and into a waiting car. Right before the door closed Jacob shouted

"Sam and the other are meeting up with us in Seattle." He said and slamming the door shut drove away.

We got to Seattle without being pulled over even though the Cullen's all drove like speed demons and as we all stepped out of the cars I stopped when a scene floated into my head.

We are all walking around eating, talking and messing around in general with a ton of bags when there is suddenly a buzzing noise that sounds like some sort of machine, the rest of the flock freeze in their tracks and dropping their bags prepare to fight for their lives if necessary. Watching the flock prepare to fight my instincts act up and I do the same suddenly we are surrounded be what look to me like erasers but that are the cause of the buzzing sound. "Flyboys" Max tells Iggy who says I know and suddenly we all start to fight. Screaming sounding all around us.


	19. Authors note

**A/N: **Just thought I would let you guys know that I may not be able to update for a while. I have been using my school laptop from the start and we have to turn them in for the summer on June 1st. I have a home computer but it has been going crazy for at least the past year and the internet doesn't always work. I will try to post it but am not guarenteeing anything. I will continue writing the story in my free time and typing it up when I get the chance so don't get too disappointed if I don't update until August. I would have had this authors note up last Thursday or Friday but my bus got in a wreak Thursday afternoon(bus against van. The people in the van died  but us students came out of it with nothing worse than a broken arm at the most. Most of us had bloody noses and scratches and bruises) and my laptop and school supplies were stuck in the school all weekend.


	20. Heads up

Author's Note

Just letting you know that I am working on my next chapter finally and it should be up soon. I no longer have a working computer so I have to use my school computers. Sorry for the long wait and I hope you will continue reading my story.


	21. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

MAX POV

Somehow we managed to make it to Seattle in record time without getting pulled over; which was surprising because the Cullen's were total speed demons. Just as Alice had predicted, it started to rain about a mile from Seattle and it was pouring by the time we reached the Seattle Mall. If you know our history, you know we grew up living in dog crates that tended to be too small for us. A side-affect of that is the fact that the flock and I tend to get claustrophobic in small areas, such as the Cullen's vehicles, even though cars are nowhere near as bad as elevators. Thanks to the claustrophobia, we were feeling kind of tense and wound up by the time we hit the parking lot, and we all practically jumped out of the cars before they stopped moving. As Shayne and Alice both stepped out of the Mercedes front seats they closed the doors and despite the pouring rain, they suddenly froze in place; the same far away look on their faces. After a couple of minutes in which all of us got soaked, they snapped out of it; Alice shaking her head and glancing at Edward (Who had decided to come with us for some reason), and Shayne tensing up again and growling quietly.

"_Hey Max_" Angel said in my mind.

"_Yeah sweetie?" _I 'asked'

"_I think you should know that Shayne is physic. When she and Alice got that look on their faces they had the same vision. I think we are going to get attacked by flyboys. Max, with Shayne being physic that gives her as many powers as me in less than a week. Do you think Shayne's a more advanced version of a bird-kid then we are?"_

_"She easily could be." _I told her, "_You have to remember her mom was one of the original human/ bird experiments, kind of like us. Now, I've got to ask; were you in Shayne's mind again without permission?"_

"_No I wasn't," _Angel told me_, " Shayne told me to tell you. During her vision her mind blocks were still at full power. When the vision was finished, Shayne dropped her blocks and told me to tell you."_

_"Ok," _I said, _"Tell Shayne thanks for the warning and tell the others to keep on guard."_

_"Got it" _Angel said and left my mind. As Angel passed on my messages I automatically started a 360-degree scan of my surroundings. I saw Mathew open an umbrella for Shayne and her whispering to him asking why he hadn't pulled it out earlier, Fang leaning against Carlisle's Mercedes (Alice's Porsche was in the process of being modified). I also saw that everyone was soaked, and that several of the Quileute's were heading our way from farther back in the parking lot. During a second 360 I saw that every thing was almost the same except for the fact that Fang had disappeared.

"Hey," I asked, trying to sound normal. "Did any of you see where Fang went?"

"Max, I'm right here." Fang's voice said but there was still no sign of him.

"Fang," I said starting to get annoyed, "This isn't funny. Now where the hell are you?"

"Seriously Max," Fang's voice said again, "I haven't moved an inch, I'm right here." Fang appeared out of nowhere standing where I had last seen him and waving his hand. "Now do you mind if we head inside so I don't get any wetter?" Thanks to Fang, the rest of the flock (except for Shayne) noticed how wet we were and started begging me to head inside.

"Max, let's listen to Fang and get out of this downpour." Iggy and the Gasman said and at the same time I heard Angel speak up.

"Max, can we please go in so Celeste doesn't get ruined?" She asked, showing me the small winged bear she'd "asked" a woman to buy for her while we were in New York looking for the Institute. While Angel asked that and Gassy and Iggy also complained Nudge had to get her 10 cents in. As usual she was talking a mile a minute while she complained.

"Max this rain's totally gonna destroy my hair and make it all frizzy. It feels like I'm taking another shower, and I don't think I need to take another shower; do you think I need another shower even though I took one earlier? I don't think all this water's good for Shayne's leather jacket. I think water cracks and spots leather if it touches mphhhhhhh…" Rosalie shut her up by putting her hand over Nudge's mouth.

"Can we go into the mall already?" Rosalie asked a huge grin on her face. "I think that doing so is the only way to make this little girl be quiet. I've known Alice for a long time, and I'll be one of the first to say she's gotten carried away with things quite a few times; but I think Nudge is 10 times worse."

"I'll get you for that comment later." Alice said, "But for now I agree to head inside." I nodded my head in agreement and just as the Quileutes joined our group we took of at a run for the entrance of the mall. As we walked through the door of the mall Shayne, Mathew and the other Quileutes shook their heads like dogs and sprayed anyone unfortunate enough to be within 10 feet of our group.

"Does anyone know where the bathroom is?" Shayne asked, "I want to dry off a bit before my jacket gets destroyed." Before anyone had a chance to answer, a guy who looked to be around Shayne's age came over and pulling a small towel from his coat pocket handed it to her.

"Here," he said as Shayne grabbed it cautiously, "I know how you feel about your leather jacket, I'm the same way about mine. I'm Daemeon by the way, Daemeon Broad." When he introduced himself Angel and Nudge started giggling.

"What is so funny?" I asked Angel quietly and she whispered the answer to me.

"Nudge is giggling because she thinks Daemeon's watched way to many James Bond movies, because he introduced himself to Shayne just like Bond does in the movies. I'm giggling because just about every guy in our vicinity except for Sam and the other Quileute's has a huge crush on Shayne, and all of them are jealous because only Daemeon had the guts to flirt with her at all." After a little less then a minute she continued her little narrative still giggling slightly. "Mathew's finally catching on to what Daemeon's trying to do." All of a sudden she stopped giggling and her tone changed. "Uh oh, he's starting to get really mad." When I picked up on her tone as worried I looked at Mathew who was starting to shake.

"Mathew, calm down." Shayne said quietly, figuring out Daemeon's game as well. As she finished drying off her hair and coat, she handed the towel back and spoke to Daemeon.

"Look Daemeon," she said, "I know what you are trying to do and I'm flattered, but I'm already going out with someone." As she said that she stepped back and wrapped her arm around Mathew's waist as he put his arm around her shoulders.

Shayne's POV

As the vision of the fight ends I instinctively tensed up and growled quietly

"_Angel," _I thought dropping my mind blocks quickly

_"Yeah Shayne"_ she replied curious,

_"Could you please tell Max that I just had some sort of premonition?" _I asked showing it to her.

_"Will do."_

_"Thanks Ang"_

_"No problem."_ After a few minutes of standing around getting even wetter I heard Angel's voice again. _"Hey Shayne, Max says thanks for letting her know."_

_"Ok Angel." _I thought to her and at that precise moment I stopped getting rained on, and looking around I saw that Mathew had pulled out an umbrella, that Max was scanning her surroundings, that Fang was leaning against the Mercedes and that a group of my pack members heading towards us. Turning my attention back to Mathew I shot a remark at him.

"You couldn't have pulled out the umbrella out earlier? Like before I got soaked." I remarked quietly.

"Sorry I just found it myself." He told me.

"Hey," Max suddenly said getting my attention because she was trying to keep the worry out of her voice, but not entirely succeeding. "Did any of you see where Fang went?" Looking toward the Mercedes I understood what she was asking that question for.

"Max, I'm right here." Fang's voice said, still nowhere to be seen.

"Fang," Max said the annoyance clear in her tone of voice, "This isn't funny. Now where the hell are you?"

"Seriously Max," Fang's voice said, "I haven't moved an inch, I'm right here." With that he virtually appeared out of thin air standing in the spot I had last seen him by the Mercedes, waving his arms. "Now do you mind if we head inside so I don't get any wetter?" When Fang complained about being wet the others started complaining as well. All at once Max was being bombarded with questions and comments from the rest of the flock.

"Max lets listen to Fang and get out of this downpour." Gassy and Iggy said at once the look's on their faces showing that they were worried about something other then themselves. At the exact same moment Angle spoke up and asked,

"Max can we please go in so Celeste doesn't get ruined?" She asked pulling out a small winged bear that I hadn't noticed earlier. While Gassy, Iggy and Angel were talking; Nudge was talking a mile a minute as usual.

"Max," she started like the other three but then continued on. "This rain's totally gonna destroy my hair and make it all frizzy. It feels like I'm taking another shower, and I don't think I need to take another shower; do you think I need another shower even though I took one earlier?" The next part she said had me worried about my new jacket, "I don't think all this water's good for Shayne's leather jacket. I think water cracks and spots leather if it touches mphhhhhhh…" Rosalie had finally decided to shut her up by placing a hand over her mouth.

"Can we go into the mall already?" Rosalie asked before continuing with a huge grin on her face. " I think doing so is the only was to make this little girl be quiet. I've known Alice for a long time, and I will be one of the first to say she's gotten carried away a few times; but I think Nudge is ten times worse."

"I'll get you for that comment later," Alice said, "But for now I agree to head inside." Max nodded her agreement and just as the pack member's that had come reached our group we took off running. As we entered the mall Mathew, Sam, Jacob, Seth, Embry, Quil, Paul and I embraced our canine sides and shook our heads scattering water within ten feet of our vicinity and spraying several groups of people unlucky enough to be within that range.

"Does anyone know where the bathroom is?" I asked, remembering what Nudge had said about water and leather "I want to dry off a bit before my jacket gets destroyed." Before anyone had a chance to answer, a guy who looked to be around my age came over and pulling a small towel from his coat pocket handed it to me.

"Here," he said as I grabbed it cautiously, "I know how you feel about your leather jacket, I'm the same way about mine. I'm Daemeon by the way, Daemeon Broad." When he introduced himself Angel and Nudge started giggling.

"What is so funny?" I heard Max ask Angel quietly and I think she explained it while I was drying my hair

"Mathew, calm down." I said quietly, seeing Mathew starting to shake and catching on to Daemeon's game. As I finished drying off my hair and coat, I handed the towel back and spoke to Daemeon.

"Look Daemeon," I said, "I know what you are trying to do and I'm flattered, but I'm already going out with someone." As I said that I stepped back and wrapped my arm around Mathew's waist as he put his arm around my shoulders and kissed me on the cheek.

"Sorry man," Daemeon said as Mathew looked at him, "I didn't know that she was your girlfriend. Looking around at our group he realized the inhuman beauty of the Cullen's and the muscles of the Quileute's. Turning quickly he practically ran back to his buddies, who had been standing nearby and witnessed the whole conversation. As he joined them I heard his friends teasing him about his failed flirtations.

"Max," Nudge said, "Now that the wannabe James Bond is gone can we find something to eat? I'm so hungry I could eat a cow."

"I could go for some food myself." I told Mathew

"Hey Max," Angel said, "Everyone here is hungry except for the Cullen's"

"If you're hungry I can take you to the food court," Alice said, " That is if you don't mind eating in wet clothes."

"No," Max told her, "We don't care about eating in wet clothes because we've done it before."

"Ok then," Alice said, "Follow me to the food court." As we were following Alice I heard Daemeon again.

"I'm Daemeon by the way, Daemeon Broad." I looked around to see the poor soul that Daemeon was flirting with now and was slightly confused to see him and his friends walking slightly behind our group and discussing what they were going to eat at the food court. Looking at Gassy I saw he was trying not to laugh and attempting to look innocent at the same time. I shot him a glare that had him faltering in his step before I busted out laughing. After the confusion about me glaring at him and then suddenly laughing Gassy and everyone else started laughing as well. As we walked into the food court we were still laughing. As we walked across the food court to a group of empty tables something about us (possibly our similarity to animals) made people uncomfortable and they got out of our way as quickly as possible. Once we got to the tables we started pulling away the chairs and once we had done that, started pushing the tables together. As we were putting the chairs back around the table we had made Edward straightened up.

"There's a man heading our way," Edward told us, "He is coming to tell us that by moving tables we are violating one of the food court's rules. He's thinking about kicking us out of the food court if we refuse to move the tables back."

"No problem," Max said, "Angel do your thing this one time only."

"Do you mean it?" Angel asked and Max nodded. Confused I was trying to figure out what Max had told Angel she could do when the man stopped at our table.

"Hello sir," Angel said sweetly, "I bet you came to tell us that we shouldn't move tables. The problem is that we need a huge table like this. I would really appreciate it if you let people move tables until your boss says something about it."

"Ok I'll let people move tables until Mr. Sweeny says something about it." The man said, "I hope you enjoy your meals." With that he turned on his heel and walked away.

"Ok," Mathew said, "What the freak just happened?" The last time I was here with my friends that guy was all about kicking us out for moving tables, and now he just walks away." At that moment I figured out what was going on and answered both of our questions.

"Max just let Angel use her mind control on that guy." I said, "Now can we please go and order some food?"

"Yeah you guys go ahead." Alice said, "Rosalie, Edward, and I will save the table; remember we are on a special diet after all." When Alice mentioned the Cullen's "Special diet" with a wink I smiled and thought about it as we broke up and went to get our food. Looking around a station called Mary's Cajun Kitchen caught my eye. As I got there the only other guy in line ordered his food. Looking at the menu only once I knew exactly what I was going to order. As the person in front of me paid for his food and walked off I stepped up to the counter.

"Welcome to Mary's Cajun Kitchen." The guy behind the counter said, "How can I help you today?"

"Yes," I said and ordered my food, "I would like a king sized mountain dew, an order of Mary's spicy Cajun chicken, 2 large Italian sausage po'boy sandwiches, 2 orders of sesame chicken, and 4 slices of strawberry cheesecake."

" I suppose you are ordering for other people as well." The guy said and looking at his nametag I saw his name was Joseph.

"Are you kidding?" I asked, "This is all for me Joseph. I've got a huge appetite."

"I can see that." Joseph said as he started to reread my order out loud. I nodded yes when he looked at me and then he added up my total. "Ok that will be a total of $30.75" I handed him two 20's and as he handed me my change he said, " And by the way just call me Joe, everyone else does."

"Thanks, I think." As soon as I got my trays of food I spun and went back to the group as fast as I could. Sitting down next to Mathew I was fuming at the audacity of these Seattle guys. Grabbing one of my po'boy sandwiches I ripped a chunk out of it and started chewing. As I grabbed a napkin off the small pile on my tray and flipped it over I saw that good ol' Joe had written his name and number on it. Feeling the need to vent I ripped the napkin to shreds and felt calmer. Looking around I saw everyone looking at me strangely; Max a slice of pizza halfway to her mouth.

"Sorry about that guys." I said, "Another complete stranger was attempting to flirt with me. Only difference between him and Daemeon is that the second guy had the nerve to write his name and number on that napkin I just destroyed and give it to me."

"Shayne," Angel said quietly.

"Yes Angel?" I asked her.

"I need to tell you something in private."

"Fine" I said and took down my mind barriers "What did you want Angel?"

"_I didn't want to say anything out loud in front of Mathew but just about every guy around your age in this mall thinks you are hot."_

"Please tell me you are joking." I exclaimed out loud,

"But I'm not joking," Angel said out loud as well, "Ask Edward if you don't believe me."

"Ask me what?" Edward asked

"Nothing Edward," I told him, "Angel I do believe you I was just shocked is all."

"Shocked about what?" Mathew asked

"Nothing to concern yourself with." I told him and took another bite of my sandwich. As I was chewing I looked around at what everyone else had ordered. Max, Fang, and Iggy each had a large pizza of their own. Max had pepperoni, Fang had pepperoni and sausage, and Iggy had pepperoni, sausage, and ham for some reason. Nudge was eating three chicken sandwiches and two apple pies, and Angel and the Gasman were both eating three orders of eight chicken nuggets. To drink Max and Fang had large Pepsi's, Iggy a large orange pop, Nudge a large mountain dew that I had a feeling we would regret later, Gassy a medium cherry coke and Angel had a medium root beer. The Quileute wolves had so many different foods I don't want to even start listing them, the Cullen's of course due to their "special diet" had no food at all


	22. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Shayne POV

Once we had all finished eating Alice and Rosalie practically dragged me into the nearest store, which happened to be a Gap. To most likely keep me from leaving the store, which didn't really appeal to me at all, Rosalie held my arm while Alice raided the shelves. Once she had finished her raid Alice came back to Rosalie and I with her arms loaded with clothes. As Alice forced me into a changing room I saw Nudge enter the store with Max and Angel.

"I'm just going to tell you now that we are not leaving this store until you try on those clothes." Alice announced, "and I am going to buy whatever I think looks great on you."

"You don't have to do that." I told her, "I've got my own cards and cash.

"I don't care," Alice, said, "I want to buy some stuff for you."

"Fine," I told her, "I'll try on the clothes but only if you let me do my own thing later without complaints."

"It's a deal," Alice said dumping the clothes on a bench in one of the stalls and pushing me in gently. "Now get your little butt in there and change." As the door shut behind me I took off my coat and hung it beside the bench. As I changed out of my still damp shirt (I had my coat undone in the parking lot) my cell phone went off in an inside pocket of my jacket. Grabbing it quickly I hit the answer button and put it to my ear.

"_Hello?" _I asked,

"_Hello Shayne, what are you doing?"_

"_Hey Jeb, the truth is that I'm being tortured."_

"_How" _Jeb asked sounding kind of worried,

"_I'm stuck in a mall being forced to shop for clothes and being flirted with by complete strangers."_

"_That's your idea of torture?"_ Jeb asked me and I could tell by his voice that he was smiling.

"_For me, yeah." _I told him

"_Well have you called your father yet?"_

"_To tell you the honest truth, no I haven't, not yet at least."_

"_Well do it soon, your father is anxious to speak with you after so many years."_

"_Trust me," _I told him, _"I will call him soon."_

"_That's fine, just make sure you call me once you've called your father, and remember to be on the ground by 7:30 tonight."_

"_Will do." _I said and ended the call. Setting my phone on top of the bench I grabbed the first shirt I saw and put it on before changing into a pair of dark jeans. Looking into the full-length mirror, I actually liked the outfit. It was a blue and white plaid shirt that buttoned down the front and was slightly low cut with a pair of dark blue jeans that were kind of tight in the legs but still comfortable, and would allow for me to be able to fight if the need arose. Making sure my locket was still secure around my neck I quickly opened the door to my stall and stepped out. Nudge, who had been practically running from one side of the store to the other since she had come in, stopped in her tracks and stood there staring at me, for once totally speechless, Alice started clapping as did Rosalie, Mathew and the other Quileutes still acting as bodyguard to me, stopped browsing shelves to stare, the lady that worked in the store (and who seemed kind of familiar to me) stopped talking to Angel; and Max, standing next to Angel and flipping through the Gap Catalog stopped looking at it and turned to see what had made everyone suddenly go totally silent. After a long silence Nudge broke the silence in the typical Nudge fashion. OMG Shayne!!! You look totally hot I hope you are planning on buying that outfit because it will probably make you be the most popular girl in the entire Forks High School."

"She's not buying anything." Alice said, "I'm getting it for her as well as anything else in this store that I think she looks good in. Now Shayne am I going to have to force you to go back into that room? Keep in mind that the sooner you finish trying on those clothes the sooner you can get out of here." Half an hour later Alice had decided to buy everything I tried on in the store and had also bought Nudge an outfit or two. As we walked out of the store I went to grab my phone and realized that I had left it in the changing room from where it had fallen onto the floor.

"Hey Alice," I called from the back of the group.

"Yes Shayne?" she asked still walking.

"I think I left my phone in the changing room while you were forcing me to try on all those clothes." I told her, "I'm heading back now to check if it is. After I check the store I want to do my own thing like you promised I could do if I tried on those outfits; so when and where do you want us all to regroup?"

"Meet us at the food court in two hours." She said stopping and turning around, "But until then I want you to stay with Mathew."

"No problem," I said with a grin, "Hey Sam you guys can do whatever you want as long as it's legal. That is all I need, for my tribe members to end up in jail. Come on Mathew lets go." I grabbed him by the hand and took off for the Gap. As we got closer to the Gap I started to slow down and as we walked into the store I saw the woman that was working talking on my phone facing the changing rooms.

"Oh my God Jason," she was saying, "You should have seen the group that just left a few minutes ago. It consisted of two vampires, four avian human hybrids, and seven werewolves for peat's sake." I was automatically on alert, and I felt Mathew stiffen beside me.

"Mathew," I said so quietly that I barely heard myself, "Stay under control; let's hear what she has to say to this Jason person." Dropping quietly to the ground, I moved behind a set of shelves motioning for Mathew to do the same. As he moved beside me the woman who worked here continued her side of the conversation.

"I think those bird kids are the ones that the Volturi are after. No scratch that, I know for a fact that they are the bird kids the Volturi is after. I'm going to call the Director as soon as I get off the phone with you." When she mentioned the Director I stiffened and growled much as Mathew had when we had first walked in and Mathew told me to calm down as I went to stand up.

"How do I know they are?" she asked "The oldest of the bird freaks that were in here is the one who just escaped. I recognized her from the last time I was there helping to test her fighting ability. She's gone and changed her hair and I am very glad she didn't recognize me she is crazy when she gets angry at all. As a matter of fact I hope she doesn't come back soon because this is her phone I'm using"

"Yes I'd noticed," I told her standing up quickly. "And I'd appreciate it if you gave it back to me now before you regret it."

"Really," She asked hanging up the phone, "What are you going to do about it if I don't?"

"I wasn't talking about myself," I said, "I was thinking about him." I said pointing to Mathew who was on his feet as well. "He can be very protective of me at times."

"Are you joking?" she asked shocked, and I shook my head no. "Are you implying that this young wolf imprinted on you?" I nodded and took a step toward her in a menacing gesture. "You seem to have imprinted on him as well." Again I nodded and then both Mathew and I took a step toward her. "But how in the hell is that possible? I thought only Quileute Indians could imprint. According to the research I read on your particular case and history, you've got no Native American heritage whatsoever."

"Well guess what?" I asked, Mathew and I still advancing on her. "They gave you the wrong information on me. My father just happens to be a full blooded Quileute Indian you idiot. Now I repeat, give me my phone back right now and we might not hurt you."

"Fine take your stupid phone!" she shouted at me and launched my phone at my feet quite quickly for a human I might add (I think she could be part cheetah though if she is not much). Not quite sure how it happened I snatched it out of the air within seconds.

"Thanks for my phone back." I told her and walking the rest of the way to the counter she was still standing behind jumped over the counter with little difficulty and joined her. "As a reward for doing the smart thing, I won't hurt you" then getting an evil grin on my face said, "to badly." As I said that I punched her squarely in the face with not even a small fraction of my strength. I felt her nose break like a rotten fruit and feeling much better, jumped back over the counter. "That looks serious," I said, "you should probably go to the hospital and see a doctor about that." With those final words I put my phone in my pocket and once again grabbing Mathews hand the two of us left the Gap trying not to laugh. About a minute after we left the store Mathew and I stopped to buy a smoothie to share. As I paid the smoothie vendor we saw the whitecoat from the Gap walk by supported by a guy I assumed might have been Jason. Mathew and I took one look at them walking by then at each other and we started to crack up.

"You know what?" I said once we had finished laughing, "I do actually remember her now. Her name is Amber and I think I tried to rip her arm off after an experiment about three weeks ago. I think I also nearly bit a nice sized chunk out of that same arm after one of the many 'let's see how long the bird-kid can go without eating' experiments they did on my all through last year.

Mathew POV

As Shayne and I walked back to the Gap to get her phone back, we saw the woman that was running the Gap counter talking on a cell phone facing the changing rooms.

"Oh my God Jason," she was saying, "You should have seen the group that just left a few minutes ago. It consisted of two vampires, four avian human hybrids, and seven werewolves for peat's sake." I stiffened up a fraction and smelled Shayne going alert as well

"Mathew," I barely heard Shayne whisper to me, "Stay under control; let's hear what she has to say to this Jason person." She said and dropping to the ground moved behind the nearest set of shelves, motioned for me to join her which I did just as the woman continued her side of the conversation

"I think those bird kids are the ones that the Volturi are after. No scratch that, I know for a fact that they are the bird kids the Volturi is after. I'm going to call the Director as soon as I get off the phone with you." When she mentioned the Director I heard Shayne growl quietly and move to stand up.

"Shayne, calm down I told her just as she had done to me earlier.

"How do I know they are?" she asked "The oldest of the bird freaks that were in here is the one who just escaped. I recognized her from the last time I was there helping to test her fighting ability. She's gone and changed her hair and I am very glad she didn't recognize me she is crazy when she gets angry at all. As a matter of fact I hope she doesn't come back soon because this is her phone I'm using"

"Yes I'd noticed," Shayne said standing up quickly before I could say anything. "And I'd appreciate it if you gave it back to me now before you regret it."

"Really," the woman asked hanging up the phone, and continuing in a threatening voice that had me on my feet ready to protect Shayne and trying to control my anger at the same time "What are you going to do about it if I don't?"

"I wasn't talking about myself, I was thinking about him." Shayne said pointing at me. "He can be very protective of me at times."

"Are you joking?" The woman asked and Shayne shook her head in response. "Are you implying that this young wolf imprinted on you?" Shayne again nodded in response before taking a step toward her. "You seem to have imprinted on him as well." Again she nodded and I took a step toward the woman at the same time as Shayne. "But how in the hell is that possible? I thought only Quileute Indians could imprint. According to the research I read on your particular case and history, you've got no Native American heritage whatsoever."

"Well guess what?" Shayne asked, the two of us still advancing slowly. "They gave you the wrong information on me. My father just happens to be a full blooded Quileute Indian you idiot. Now I repeat, give me my phone back right now and we might not hurt you."

"Fine take your stupid phone!" she shouted to Shayne and launched the phone toward the ground as hard and fast as she could which was amazingly hard and fast for a mortal. Shayne snatched the phone out of the air so quickly her hand arm and hand blurred like a vampires.

"Thanks for my phone back." Shayne told her and walking the rest of the way to the counter she was still standing behind, vaulted over the counter with little difficulty and joined her. "As a reward for doing the smart thing, I won't hurt you" then getting an evil grin on her face said, "to badly." After she said that Shayne punched her square in the nose with what I assume was a small fraction of her strength seeing as the woman was still alive and conscious. After that she jumped back over the counter and said, "That looks serious," You should probably go to the hospital and see a doctor about that." With those final words she put her phone in her pocket and once again grabbing my hand the two of us left the Gap trying not to laugh. About a minute after we left the store we stopped to buy a smoothie to share. As Shayne paid the smoothie vendor with her seemingly endless supply of money we saw the whitecoat from the Gap walk by supported by a guy I believed to be Jason. Shayne and I took one look at them walking by then at each other and we started to crack up.

"You know what?" Shayne said once we had finished laughing, "I do actually remember her now. Her name is Amber and I think I tried to rip her arm off after an experiment about three weeks ago. I think I also nearly bit a nice sized chunk out of that same arm after one of the many 'let's see how long the bird-kid can go without eating' experiments they did on my all through last year."

"Those people who treated you like crap since you were kidnapped better hope they never meet me in a dark alley." I told her my mood dropping quickly. Shayne gave me a quick kiss before saying, "Relax Mathew, they didn't hurt me, too badly; I was way too valuable to them." Suddenly I thought of something I had been meaning to ask her since the night before.

"Hey Shayne," I started to say, "We are technically dating right?"

"Yes; we don't exactly have to much of a choice in the matter." She replied looking at me with a grin. "Why are you asking?" she asked in return taking a huge drink of the smoothie.

"Just curious," I told her looking around for a place to sit.

"Sure," she said sarcastically, "Now why don't you really tell me why you are asking me that question."

"Fine I said walking toward a bench I had seen about 20 feet away. "Well, all the people I know who are dating someone rarely call each other by their full first name except for special occasions. I was thinking that maybe you could just call me Matt."

"Sure, no problem," Shayne told me, " You can call me either Shay or S if you want but you don't have too. As a matter of fact you can call me whatever you want to as long as it's not something stupid and mushy like sweetheart or baby. You know I have the feeling that once everyone finds out about this; we are going to be teased mercilessly about it until something new comes along. By the way how old are you?" You look to me to be about 19 or twenty years old."

"I'm 17 now, but I'm turning 18 next week. How old are you?"

"I'm turning 17 whenever my birthday comes around. I don't exactly know what month or what day this is. The whitecoat's and the Director didn't exactly let me keep track of stuff like that." As she looked around the mall I saw her shoulders slump as she let out a nearly silent sigh. I gave her a quick hug and kiss, and then to lighten up the mood I grabbed the smoothie out of her hands and took an even bigger gulp then she had earlier. As a reward I got a brain freeze and Shayne starting to laugh before her phone went off causing her to jump. Grabbing her phone from her pocket she opened it.

"Jeez Jeb," she said with a sigh, "you're so freaking impatient. Hey Matt, I really need to call my dad so that my uncle can quit bothering me. Where is the nearest bathroom, I want to be able to stretch out my wings." That whole last sentence Shayne said in a very quite whisper.

"It's just around the corner Shay, but I don't know how good cell service is in there."

"Thanks." She said standing up and walking away.


	23. Chapter 24

Disclaimer: I do not and never will own Maximum Ride or Twilight even though I may plot to kidnap the characters from the movies (Fang, Jacob, and Edward). All I own are my OC Shayne, Katie, Sarah, Nichol and any others not mentioned in the main stories.

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Story of A Bird Kid 23Shayne POV

"Those people who treated you like crap since you were kidnapped better hope they never meet me in a dark alley." Mathew told me his grin slowly fading away.

"Relax Mathew," I told him giving him a quick kiss, "They didn't hurt me too badly; I was way to valuable to them." After I told him that he totally changed the direction of the conversation on me.

"Hey Shayne," he said getting a weird look on his face. "We are technically dating right?"

"Yes;" I told him grinning while I was thinking about us imprinting on each other. "We don't exactly have too much of a choice in the matter. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," He said avoiding my gaze.

"Sure you were just curious." I told him knowing that it was more than that. I may be new to this whole dating thing but I know that guys were never just curious. "Now why don't you tell me why you really asked me?"

"Fine," He said walking toward the seating area about 20 feet away. "Well all the people I know that are dating rarely call each other by their full first name. I was thinking that maybe you could just call me Matt."

"Sure, not a problem." I said as we sat down on the bench he had been heading for. "You can call me either Shay or S if you want, but you don't have to. As a matter of fact, you can call me whatever you want as long as it's not something stupid and mushy. You know, I've got the slightest feeling that once the others hear that we are doing this we are going to be teased mercilessly about this for quite sometime. By the way how old are you? You look to be around 19 years old."

"I'm 17 now but I'm turning 18 next week. How about you?"

"I'm turning 17 whenever my birthday comes around. I don't know what day or even what month this is. The Director and the whitecoats didn't exactly let me keep track of stuff like that." I said slumping my shoulders and letting out a quiet sigh. Matt gave me a quick hug and kiss before grabbing the smoothie I had just bought out of my hands and taking a huge gulp and getting himself a brain freeze in the process. I started laughing at him and then nearly jumped out of my skin when my phone suddenly went off. Once I had figured out what had happened I grabbed my phone from my pocket and saw I had a text message.

"_Shayne you should call your dad as soon as you can, he's starting to get worried. JEB"_

"Jeez Jeb," I said with another sigh, "You're so freaking impatient. Hey Matt, I really need to call my dad so that my uncle will quit bugging me. Where's the nearest bathroom?" The last part I whispered quietly for obvious reasons, "I want to be able to stretch out my wings a bit."

"The bathroom is just around the corner Shay, but I don't know how good cell service will be in there."

"Thanks Matt," I said standing up and heading to the bathroom. As soon as I walked around the corner I saw my destination and quickly entered the bathroom. After checking to make sure I was the only one in the bathroom I slid my wings out about four feet on each side. Shaking that little bit of wing out to relax the wing tips, I grabbed my phone and looking through my contacts list found my dad's phone number. Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves I hit the call button and put the phone to my ear. After about four rings the line on the other end was picked up and I heard my dad's voice for the first time in 12 years.

"_Hello, this is the Rider's" _He said,

"_Daddy," _I said quietly, "_This is Shayne."_

"_Shayne?" _He asked, "_My god Jeb was actually telling the truth."_

"_Yep, he was telling the truth."_ I said, talking louder and in a more confident manner, "_He helped me escape not that long ago."_

"_I know,"_ Dad, said his voice filled with happiness. "_Jeb told me the whole story. I can't believe that he is associated with those kinds of people. How are you doing?"_

"_Other than a strong aversion to any medical facilities, and a back and a leg covered in scars, I'm doing very well."_

"_What do you mean a back and a leg covered in scars?"_

"_Jeb didn't mention my escape attempts and subsequent punishments?"_

"_He mentioned your escape attempts and that you were severely punished, but he didn't give me specific details. What happened to you?"_

"_Well I kept trying to escape because I thought that Jeb had killed my friends, and was afraid that he would kill me as well. This whole thing was before he told me that he was my uncle so it was easy to believe that he would do something like that. Anyway, no matter how often I got out of those damn dog cages they forced me to live in, they always managed to catch me before I could get too far. When they caught me I was always drugged, tied up, and literally thrown to the wolves. The wolves are experiments like me that are part human, part wolf and referred to as erasers. Jeb's son or at least a clone of Jeb's son Ari did most of the damage." _At that point my dad yelled interrupting me.

"_They forced you to live in a dog crate?!!"_

"_Yeah but they were all quite easy to bust out of."_

"_They treated you like a freaking animal!! Jeb better hope he doesn't meet me anytime in the future or he'll get murdered!!"_

"_Dad calm down! God you're acting like Mathew!" _The mention of Mathew totally calmed my dad down

"_Who's Mathew?" _He asked in the typical fashion of dads everywhere.

"_He's one of the special Quileute's and my imprint. Hey dad will you tell me why we left Forks and the Reservation?"_

"_How'd you figure out about our Quileute history?"_

"_Sam Uley. He's the alpha male and I'm a member of the pack."_

"_I figured as much when Jeb told me that you are a shape shifter and that you seem to prefer the form of a large black wolf to any of the other animal forms. I should've figured that Sam would be the one to recognize you. He absolutely adored you when you were a baby. There were more then a few times when your mother and I were worried that he had imprinted on you."_

"_He's imprinted on a young woman named Emily. I met her last night, and despite a scar on her face from an incident where Sam lost control when he was to close to her, she is really nice. Now will you please answer my original question?"_

"_What was the question again?"_

"_I asked you why we left Forks and the Res."_

"_Oh that's right. The main reason that we left was because your mother and I were worried that we were needlessly putting Sam and the others in danger. We knew that Itex was after your mother because she had escaped them, and we also knew that they would go to any length to achieve their goal, including harm anyone we were close too. So we decided to leave in the middle of the night and since we left, haven't communicated with any of them since."_

"_That makes sense, but I figured that you would've at least tried to reconnect with them after mom was killed. They would have gladly provided you a home and family."_

"_Jeb told you then? About your mother I mean. Did he also tell you that you've got a little sister?"_

"_He told me about mom yes, but he somehow managed to neglect to inform me about my little sister. What is her name and how old is she?"_

"_Her name is Jordin and she just turned five last month. Speaking of birthday's happy 17__th__ Shayne."_

"_It's my birthday? Well that is quite a shock, Mathew and I were just discussing birthdays earlier."_

"_You didn't know that it was your birthday?"_

"_Nope, the last time I even knew what the date was or even celebrated my birthday was before I was taken. Now about Jordin, is she like me?"_

"_Yes she is, but she's got a covering to hide them like your mom did."_ Out of nowhere I heard a voice on dad's line start talking to him.

"_**Daddy, who you talking too?"**_

"_Hold on a minute Shayne, I need to talk to your little sister." _Dad said, "_I'm talking to your big sister, Jordin"_

"_**You are,"**_ I heard Jordin say, _**"Can I say hi?"**_

"_Sure you can," _dad said, "_Here's the phone." _The next thing I know I'm talking to the little sister I didn't know I had. Well at least I listened to her.

"_Hi Shayne, my name's Jordin and I'm your little sister. Daddy has told me so much about you from before the bad people took you away. Daddy talks about you so much I feel like I know you a little bit, even though we never met. Do you think we'll ever meet in person? I hope we meet in real life. Do you have any friend's? I've got a bunch of friends. Do you like to go shopping? I just went shopping the other da..." _she was interrupted by dad's voice.

"_**Jordin, you're doing it again."**_Dad told her.

"_Sorry Daddy,"_

"_**It's ok, just try to resist going on and on, and give Shayne time to answer your questions"**_

"_Ok, I'll let her talk." _Jordin said, "_You can talk now Shayne."_

"_Ok," _I told my little sister, "_Hi Jordin, as you know my name is Shayne. I really regret that I didn't know about you until I called our daddy. I hope we meet soon but I've got some things to do here first. I have a group of six really close friends that have wings like us and I've got a few other friends as well. As for shopping, I don't like it too much, but I'm at a mall right now."_

"_Cool. Hey Shayne, Daddy says that today is your birthday. I want to give you a gift when you come and see us and Daddy said it was ok. Well happy birthday, I got's to go one of my friends is coming over soon. Bye sis"_

"_Bye Jordin, talk to you soon."_

"_Ok. Here's the phone back daddy."_

"_Thank you Jordin." _After a few minutes of waiting dad started talking again. _"Shayne, I'm so sorry about Jordin, she can be such a chatterbox sometimes."_

"_It's not a problem, she reminds me of Nudge when she was that age. Before you ask, Nudge is a member of my flock, a group of kids, younger then me but generation 1 like mom was. At the present time Nudge is still a chatterbox and we believe that she is 11, at least we think she's 11. Like me, the flock doesn't have a way to keep track of the date. The 7 of them are staying with me at a friend's house for personal reasons. Once I think it's safe I'll contact you and get your address before coming to see you."_

"_Sound's good, I'll go ahead and let you get off of the phone for now but please call again soon."_

"_I will. Hey dad, I'm glad I finally got to talk to you again. Remember, this is actually my phone so you and Jordin can call me whenever you want. Well I better get back to Mathew before he starts to worry about me and phases in the middle of the mall."_

"_Go ahead and get back to your werewolf and call me later tonight. Bye sweetheart."_

"_Don't call me sweetheart please. But yeah I'll call you later tonight. Bye dad."_

With that I hung up my phone and put it in my pocket before I realized that during my phone conversation I had extended my wings out entirely. Just as I pulled my wings all the way in the bathroom door opened and a mother and daughter walked in.

"Hi bird lady." The little girl said and I saw that her eyes were a strange purple color.

"Hi to you too." I said and uncomfortable with her purple eyes nearly ran out of the room just as her mother spoke up.

"Don't do stuff like that Abby." She said, "That poor girl was scared out of her wits when you revealed her secret."

"Sorry mommy, I couldn't help it. Did you know that she's a wolf lady as well just like Crissy was?"

"Yes I could tell. I just hope that the Volturi don't go after her as well." When I heard that I did start running and nearly flattened Matt who had been coming to check up on me.

"What's up with you?" he asked me bristling when he saw my freaked out expression.

"There was a little purple eyed girl and her mother in the bathroom and they knew that I part bird and a werewolf. I think that they may have been escaped experiments as well. At least the knew about the Volturi. Oh and by the way today is my birthday.

* * *

That's it for this chapter. I think that I will do a story of the mother and child from the end at some point but I'm not sure. Let me know if you think it is a good idea.


	24. Chapter 25

Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride or Twilight. I just own Shayne, her family, her friends (other then the flock and Ella), and a few other characters that are never mentioned in either the Twilight series or the Maximum Ride series.

Story of a Bird Kid

Chapter 25

Matt POV

After Shayne had been gone for a while I got up and headed toward the bathroom to check up on her. As it was, she nearly flattened me coming around the corner at a full-fledged run. Once she realized who I was she looked up with an expression that I often saw on scared animals faces. Automatically on the alert I started to talk to her.

"What happened? I asked her trying not to freak out. After she had calmed down a bit she spoke up.

"There was a little purple-eyed girl and her mother that came into the bathroom right before I walked out, and they somehow knew that I was not only part bird but a werewolf as well. I think they might have been escaped experiments as well. At least they somehow knew about the Volturi. Oh and by the way, my dad told me that today is my birthday."

"Are you serious?" I asked her

"That's what my dad told me," Shayne replied, "So yeah, unless my dad doesn't remember when my birthday is I'm dead serious."

"Well then, we need to celebrate." I told her, "How about I take you out to dinner tonight?"

"I'd love to," Shayne started, "but I've got a slight feeling that Alice figured out today is my birthday this morning at the table and has something big planned so I can't."

"Well, let's go sit back down and figure something out." I said walking back to the seating area.

As we sat back down a woman and her daughter walked up to us.

"I'm so sorry about what happened in the bathroom." She said looking at Shayne, "Abby is at that age where she doesn't think before she speaks. My name is Elizabeth Sans by the way."

"Shayne Rider,"Shayne said holding out her hand. "It's nice to meet you. I know what you mean about her not thinking before she speaks, I grew up from the age of five, helping to raise a bunch of little kids that came and went."

"Were you a foster family or something else?" Elizabeth asked and I went on alert. "Um, what's up with your friend" she asked uneasily and the little girl tugged on her hand and whispered to her.

"Mommy,he's a wolf person to and he's really close to bird lady."

"Sorry ma'am," I said relaxing when I'd heard the little girl and realized for sure that they were the one's Shayne had mentioned. "Your little girl, Abby I think her name was, is correct in her assumption. My name is Mathew Ruely."

"Are you escaped experiments?" Elizabeth asked quietly.

"I am," Shayne told her, "But Mathew isn't."

"If he's not an experiment then what is he?" Abby asked looking at Shayne with her strange purple eyes.

"He's what most people would call a werewolf." Shayne said flat out. "He wasn't experimented , he was born that way."

"What do you mean when you say he was born that way?" Elizabeth asked

"Just that," I told her, "I'm Quileute Indian, and it's the duty of my tribe to protect humans from those who threaten them, namely vampires like the Volturi."

"The Volturi are vampires?" Elizabeth asked, and Shayne nodded, "I knew they weren't entirely human."

"You've seen the Volturi?" Shayne asked jumping up from her seat. "When and where at?"

"A couple of months ago, somewhere by the Mississippi River. They killed our traveling companion, and Eraser named Crissy who couldn't have been more then 16 years old."

"You were traveling with an Eraser?" Shayne asked, "And you never got attacked by her?"

"No we didn't." Elizabeth said, "Crissy may have been an Eraser, but she never laid either a finger or a claw on us. For some reason she didn't seem as bloodthirsty as the other's, especially not like the one named Ari."

"Ari? Shayne asked with a small amount of anger in her voice, causing Elizabeth to nod confusedly.

"Yes Ari," Abby said

"Do you know him?" Elizabeth asked

"Yes I know him," Shayne said, taking off her leather jacket and throwing it on her seat. "Ari is the one who gave me these." she said, lifting the back of her shirt a few inches and turning to show Elizabeth. "My entire back is covered in scars like that. Ari also gave me the scars on my face and another on my leg. Most of the scars were accumulated starting a few years ago, but he just gave me the one on my face yesterday, and some of the ones I showed you occurred about three or four days ago along with the one on my leg."

"Are you like mommy?" Abby asked

"What do you mean?" Shayne asked her

"Can you fix yourself?" Abby asked.

**Elizabeth POV**

"He's what most people would call a werewolf." Shayne said answering Abby's question. "He wasn't experimented , he was born that way."

"What do you mean when you say he was born that way?" I asked in shock

"Just that," Mathew told me, "I'm Quileute Indian, and it's the duty of my tribe to protect humans from those who threaten them, namely vampires like the Volturi."

"The Volturi are vampires?" I asked surprised and Shayne nodded in response, "I knew they weren't entirely human."

"You've seen the Volturi?" Shayne asked jumping up and confirming the belief I'd had in the bathroom that the Volturi were indeed after her. "When and where at?"

"A couple of months ago, somewhere by the Mississippi River. They killed our traveling companion, and Eraser named Crissy who couldn't have been more then 16 years old."

"You were traveling with an Eraser?" Shayne asked stunned, "And you never got attacked by her?"

"No we didn't." I told her, "Crissy may have been an Eraser, but she never laid either a finger or a claw on us. For some reason she didn't seem as bloodthirsty as the other's, especially not like the one named Ari."

"Ari? Shayne asked, a subtle sense of anger in her voice that confused me

"Yes Ari," Abby said

"Do you know him?" I asked her, curiosity getting the best of me

"Yes I know him," Shayne said, taking her jacket off and throwing it into her seat. "Ari is the one who gave me these."With that she lifted up the rim of her shirt a few inches and turned to show me. Once she'd turned all the way around and I saw her back I gasped and Abby drew closer to me. "My entire back is covered in scars like that. Ari also gave me the scars on my face and another on my leg. Most of the scars were accumulated starting a few years ago, but he just gave me the one on my face yesterday, and some of the ones I showed you occurred about three or four days ago along with the one on my leg."

"Are you like mommy?" Abby asked stepping a few feet away from me.

"What do you mean?" Shayne asked

"Can you fix yourself?" Abby asked and Shayne looked over her shoulder at me, an unspoken question in her eyes.

"She's asking if you can heal yourself." I answered, walking up behind her, "Do you mind if I touch those scars for a moment?"

"Not at all," Shayne said, "just be gentle because they hurt like hell." With that I lightly touched the red scars and felt my healing ability kick in. A few minutes later I dropped my hand and Shayne spun around, causing Mathew to jump up as well.

"What did you do?" Shayne asked me as I sat down in the nearest unoccupied seat. "I don't feel any of my injuries at all."

"I healed you," I told her as Abby handed me a piece of candy she'd found in her pocket. "Or as Abby would say, I fixed you. Those scars weren't as healed as they appeared to be. If I were to take a guess I'd say that they were infected. Why did Ari injure you so extensively? And why on earth do scars you say you just received within the past couple of days look several weeks old?"

"Ari injured me so extensively because the Director of Itex told him to do so." As she said that she turned and directed the next question to Mathew. "Speaking of Ari, what did you guys do to him?"

"He's fine." Mathew told her, "He's staying at the res with old Quil for now, like you guys with the Cullen's."

Suddenly, a very beautiful blonde woman appeared standing next to Shayne and I recognized her as a vampire.  
"Get away from her!!" I said before I saw that Shayne wasn't worried about this vampire for some reason.

"Elizabeth," Shayne said, "I'd like you to meet Rosalie. She's one of the vampires that I'm living with for the time being."

"You're living with vampires?" I asked her rephrasing the question she had asked earlier regarding Crissy, "And you're not worried about them attacking you?"

"I guess I kind of deserved that." Shayne said when she'd recognized the similarity between our questions, "But no I'm not worried. The Cullen's aren't your average vampires. They consider themselves vegetarian vampires because they only drink animal blood."

"You're still not worried?" I asked her, "I mean you're part animal as well as part human."

"She's got nothing to fear from us." Rosalie said, "Shayne is a Quileute wolf as well so both she and Mathew smell very unappetizing. To a vampire they smell like wet dog, would you be tempted to eat something that smells like wet dog?"

"Thanks Rosalie." Shayne said sarcastically.

"Just speaking the truth." Rosalie said with a grin.

"Was there something that you needed to tell me Rosalie?" Shayne asked

"No not exactly," was the reply, "I just wanted to remind you to keep an eye on the time."

Will do." Shayne said, but Rosalie was long gone. "Hey sorry about that Elizabeth, now what was your second question?"

"I asked why scars you say that you got only a few days ago look as if you've had them for a few weeks?"

I think it's because we do have healing abilities of a sort." Shayne said, "At least we seem to heal unusually fast. Injuries that for normal humans take weeks to heal completely; heal completely for us in under a week."

"When you say us," I asked, "do you mean you and Mathew?"

"Me yeah, as for Mathew I don't know." Shayne answered.

"Are you saying that there are more bird-kids, apart from yourself?" I asked,

"Yeah," Shayne said, "counting me there are at least seven of us."

"Seven of you?" Abby asked, "Are you like a family?"

"Yes, we're like a family." Shayne told Abby, "We call ourselves the Flock and we've been separated for a really long time."

"Is it the mean doctors fault?" Abby asked

"Actually it's more than one mean doctors fault." Shayne told her, "But it's mostly the fault of Ter Borcht and Jeb Batchelder."

"Roland Ter Borcht?" I asked her and Shayne nodded.

"He was the lead doctor in my case file which Crissy stole from him and showed to me once we escaped. He's the one that authorized all the experiments and test's on Abby and I."

"He was the lead doctor in my case file as well." Shayne said, "And Jeb Batchelder is the one who helped the rest of my flock escape from the school, somewhere in California, and left me behind." As she said that a phone went off and Shayne pulled hers out of her pocket. Glancing at the caller I.D and glared at it. "Well speak of the Devil and he will call.


	25. Chapter 26

Authors Note: Sorry it took so long for me to update my story I've been at Basic training for the last couple of months and as such obviously didn't have computer access,but as of November 12, 2010 I've graduated basic training and as of November 13, 2010 I have a laptop so I can update my stories as my next stage of training allows. As usual I don't own Maximum Ride or Twilight :'( but I do own Shayne, and any other characters that don't appear in the Max Ride or Twilight series.

**Story of a Bird Kid**

**Chapter **

**SHAYNE POV**

"Well speak of the Devil and he will call." I say glancing at the caller ID and mentally sighing

"What the Hell do you want now?" I snarl as I answered the phone

"That is no way to speak to your uncle Shayne." Jeb says

"You are not my uncle." I tell him starting to get annoyed. "An uncle wouldn't allow his five year old niece to get kidnapped and experimented on by the company he works for. An uncle wouldn't leave his niece in that school when he helps her friends to escape. You may be my uncle by blood but you are not my uncle by name. Now why did you call this time?"

"Your dad called and let me know that you called him. He sounded happy to have heard from you finally after 12 years."

"Jeb shut the hell up. It's not my fault that I couldn't talk to him until today. It's yours seeing as you were the evil uncle that let the daughter of the little sister you loved so much be experimented on in a place that had no contact with the outside world whatsoever. Now why the hell did you really call and no bullcrap this time or I swear to whatever God is listening that I will hang up the phone without a second thought."

"Okay no more bull."Jeb said, "I was just calling to check up on you. How are you doing now that you know you have a little sister and have talked to her and your father?"

"I'm doing fine." I tell him, "now I want you to get off this damn phone and leave me alone for the rest of my life if you don't mind."

"I can't do that Shayne." Jeb says, "I want to be able to keep an eye on you to make sure you're doing ok in the real world."

"Jeb leave me alone, I mean it." with that I hang up my phone and turn it off. As the screen on my phone goes dark I hear Jeb's voice like he's standing nearby.

"Happy 17th birthday Shayne." Jeb's voice says and I look around for him until I remember that he told me that he would try to get into my head like he was in Max's.

"That was quick." I groan silently dreading this change.

"Yes it was." Jeb agrees, "I believe it has something to do with the fact that you are a Quileute werewolf and as such your mind is getting used to having more than one conscious in it at one time. At least that is my understanding if my assumptions about the pack are right. According to statements the Volturi have given us in the past, werewolves of any kind when in wolf form make no visual communication between each other which leads us to assume that werewolves have some kind of telepathic communication. Since I'm already in your mind in less than a week when it took almost a full month for me to do the same with Max you have just proved my theory which I'll keep to myself and not pass on to the Director. Now, I'm going to leave you alone for the rest of the day unless I need to tell you something important. Now get back to your friends."

"Trust me I will. And I won't give you another thought." With that I look at Mathew and see that he's staring at me like I've gone crazy. "What?" I ask

"You were just talking to yourself in the middle of a crowded mall." He says, "I'm wondering if you've gone crazy S"

"Nope I'm as sane as can be expected given the upbringing I was forced to endure." I tell him, "It's kind of hard to explain but I'll try my best. When Jeb helped me to escape he told me that he was going to try and get into my head so that he could give me advice if I needed it. He explained that he had done the same with Max and that she was so used to following the advice of her voice that she listened to it without question even after she found out that he was the source. That whole thing that you just witnessed was me holding a conversation with Jeb via our minds. His voice was so clear in my head that I must have started talking aloud to him without even knowing it."

"Yeah you were acting crazy S." Mathew says with a grin, "Now let's get back to looking around this mall."

"If we have too." I say with a groan, "I say we find somewhere in this mall where I won't have to look for stupid clothes. I'm not too crazy about this whole shopping thing."

"If that's the case," Mathew says with another grin, "let's hit the street and find someplace to go."

"Sounds good to me." I say grabbing my leather jacket and putting it on. "I just hope it's stopped raining because I don't want to get soaked again." Suddenly remembering Elizabeth and Abby, I turn toward them. "Elizabeth, you and Abby are more than welcome to come with us." I tell them.

"No thanks." Elizabeth says, "I think we'll stay here for a while and then move on. It's not safe for us to stay in one place for too long." With that she grabs Abby's hand and started walking away calling over her shoulder, "Maybe we'll run into each other again some day."

"Maybe," I say under my breath and my focus shifts to Mathew, "Shall we?" I ask grabbing his hand and pulling him toward the way we'd come in. "Maybe we can get out of here before Alice figures out we're trying to ditch the rest of the group."

" I hope so." Mathew says, " I want to do something with you for your birthday. If you believe that Alice is throwing you a big party later chances are that this is the only time we would have a chance to do anything." With that he takes the lead and we practically ran to the doors leading outside. Just as I go to grab the handle I hear Angel's voice, which causes me to freeze.

"Have fun Shayne," she says, "Alice says that you can leave as long as you're back by 1:00 like we planned"

"Thanks Angel." I tell her glancing at Mathew, who's looking at me with a question in his eyes.

"That was Angel telling me that Alice gives us permission to leave as long as we're back at 1:00" I say

"Cool," he says before lowering his voice "Not that I need the blood-suckers permission to take my imprint out for her birthday."

"Mathew," I say resisting the urge to slap him for the blood-sucker comment, "I would much rather have her permission than to go sneaking around like a teenager breaking her parents rules."

"Technically that's what you are S." Mathew says with a wink, "A teenager breaking the rules. You are running off with a guy you bearly know, despite the fact that said guy is your soul mate. Most parents and guardians tell their children to not run off with strangers."

"Oh be quite Mathew and let's get out of here." I say punching him playfully in the shoulder, "I think I see that Damien guy eyeing me again." When I see Mathew looking around with a glare for the offending male I cuff him on the side of the head lightly before saying, "I was just messing with you."

"Don't do that," Mathew replies grinning, "I'm very possessive about my imprint." With that he grabs my hand and pulls me the rest of the way out the door and into the parking lot. As we get outside I glance up and see that while the rain had stopped it was still very cloudy. " So, it's your birthday where do you want to go?"

"I don't know." I say than lower my voice, "Keep in mind that I just escaped from the scientific facility that kept me hostage for the past 12 years and I haven't lived in Washington since I was a baby. How am I expected to know what there is to do here if I'm new to the area."

"Good point."Mathew says and after a few minutes of silence suddenly speaks up. "Well are you hungry?"

"Aren't I always?" I ask him remembering his shock from last night and the fact that I'd eaten a ton of food the night before at dinner, and then a few hours later had eaten an entire pack of cookies. Seeing him grin I know that he's remembering it as well.

"Well than I'll take you out to eat." He says with a grin "There are quite a few food places here though none of them may satisfy your hunger entirely."

"I doubt that as well," I say, "But to hell with it I'm hungry and I want to hang out with you and only you for a time."

"If that's the case than let's go." Mathew says and with that we quickly head across the parking lot glancing back to make sure we're not being followed. As I face forward I see a woman smiling softly not far from us as Mathew pulls me to his side putting his arm around my waist as we leave the parking lot and start walking. The farther we get down the sidewalk the more people I glance either smiling like the woman had done or shaking their heads in disapproval

"I think we're making a spectical of ourselves." I mutter to Mathew as he chuckles softly.

" I have to agree with that assumption S." he mutters back while pulling me even closer to his side. "It's quite entertaining watching these people when they don't know that we're doing so."

"You may think so but it's making me uncomfortable having all these strangers staring at us." I say, still talking quietly, "It kind of makes me feel that I'm being studied again." With that Mathew lets me go and grabs the door to the building that we'd just walked up to.

"Well you don't need to worry about that for a bit now." he says and walks through the door, me following close behind.

"Hey Mathew," A girl who's nametag reads "SAMANTHA" says as we walk through the door and I once again hide behind Mathew trying to stay out of sight.

"Hey Sam," Mathew says, "How's your sister doing?"

"Much better since she had that surgury but she's still in pain nonetheless" Samantha tells him with a sigh. "Do you want your normal table?"

"Yes please," Mathew tells her and grabs my hand pulling me behind him and following Samantha to a secluded table in the back of the restaurant.

"Who's this?" Samantha asks when she sees me.

"This is Shayne," Mathew tells her before turning to me. "Shayne this is my friend Samantha Kitridge. I used to work with her in Port Angeles before her family moved to the Seattle area."

"Nice to meet you Shayne." Samantha says holding out her hand. After glancing toward Mathew who nods gently, I take her hand and shake it quickly

"Nice to meet you too Samantha." I say quietly before taking off my jacket and sitting down.

"Kind of shy isn't she Mathew?" Samantha says

"Not really," Mathew tells her, "She's just kind of uncomfortable with her surroundings. She's not used to this kind of stuff."

" I see," Samantha says, "Jeffery used to be the same way." She tells him nodding to a guy a few tables away. "Once he realized we weren't going to bother him he relaxed majorly."

Glancing over at the Jeffery person Samantha's talking about I simply freeze in shock. Jeffery had been an experiment at the School about three or four years older than me that had dissappeared about 5 years before. I wasn't sure what kind of experiment that he was but I had a feeling that he recognized me as well when he happened to glance in my direction. His eyes had widended before his expression had gone blank again.

"Shayne, are you ok?" I hear Mathew ask quietly and shaking my head slightly I turn to look as him.

"What?" I ask

"I asked if you're ok." Mathew says, while his eyes ask me quietly what's going on.

"Yeah I'm fine I just zoned out." I say and try to relay the message with my eyes that I'd let him know what was wrong once Samantha had gone away. With a bearly perceptable nod he turns his attention back to Samantha who's asking what he wants to order.

"I'll just take my usual Sam." He tells her before motioning that I should look at the menu that Sam had placed in front of my seat once I'd sat down.

"I'll take a Diet Coke and a burger meal please." I say after glancing at the menu really quick."

"Ok." Samantha says. "It was nice meeting you and by the way just call me Sam, everyone else does."

"If your sure." I say, " Then I'll call you Sam as well."

"Good." Samantha (for I still can't think of her as a Sam) says, "Your guys food will be out shortly."

"Thanks." I say and watch her head to the kitchen area to turn on our order. As soon as she goes through the doors Jeffery walks up to our table cautiously.

"Well if it isn't the little wildcat." He says sounding kind of suprised, "Your the last person I'd expect to see here in Seattle. Last time I saw you Shayne, you were a very sick 12 year old and you were stuck in that damn school."

"Hey Jeffery." I say quietly, "The last time I saw you, you were being the big brother that I'd never had and were trying to get the doctors to run tests on you instead of me. All I remember is that I woke up one day and there was some strange kid in your place. Max told me later on once I'd regained some of my strength that you'd been gone for about a month and that I'd been sick since about a month before that." With that I stand up and give him a quick hug.

"S, do you mind explaining what is going on?" Mathew asks suddenly.

"Oh, sorry Mathew." I say pulling away, "Jeffery is like my big brother. He was always trying to protect me when the whitecoats would try to run more tests on me. I idolized him and once he disappeared on me I tried to be the same thing to Max and the others even though I was only twelve. Why did you protect me like that anyway Jeff? And if you cared about me so much then why did you leave?"

"I protected you because you reminded me of my little sister and as such I was unexplicitely drawn towards protecting you." Jeffery says, " I guess you could say I protected you because of guilt. My little sister was killed in a car wreck before I was kidnapped and I always felt like I should have been able to save her since I was in the car sitting next to her when it happened. Now what is this Mathew to you?" He asks with a look on his face that I knew meant he was teasing me but I answered anyway.

"He's kind of my boyfriend." I say grinning when I see the shocked look on Jeffery's face.

"Are you being serious?" he asks me grabbing me by the arm causing Mathew to stand up abruptly.

"Yes I am." I tell him, "I'm 17 years old now since today is my birthday. I think I'm old enough to date someone." With that I walk over to Mathew and whisper in his ear. "Mathew he's an old friend that's concerned about my welfare you don't need to be all possessive about it. All I feel for him is brotherly love and you are my soul mate. Remember that please before you start something we all may regret later."

"Ok S, for you I'll calm down, but if that guy grabs you like that again I don't know if I'll be able to control myself." Mathew says before kissing me on the cheek and sitting back down. At that point Samantha walks up to the table with our drinks and looking at the scene before her speaks up.

"I see you two know each other." She says looking from me to Jeffery

"Oh yes, I knew him when I was younger, he was like an older brother to me" I tell her. " But he moved away and we lost touch."

"Yeah but now that she's grown up and I've found her again I hope we can keep in touch." Jeffery says,than glancing toward Mathew who was scowling at him redeems himself. "I just want to be able to keep an eye on you like you were my little sister of course."

"Of course,I'd like to keep in touch as well." I say pulling out my phone and turning it back on. "This is still a relativly new phone to me but I'm sure you can figure out how to get your number into it and get mine for yourself as well."

"Yeah of course." Jeffery says , "Anything for the little wildcat." with that he took my phone and within a matter of minutes was handing mine back to me and pulling his out as well to enter my number. "Well Sam if your not too busy I think I'll pay for my food now and be on my way. I've been here taking up space for enough time today."

"Ok then," Samantha says, "Mathew your guys order should be ready in a few."

"Thanks Sam" Mathew calls out as she goes to grab Jeffery's bill. "The Little Wildcat?" He asks me with a raised brow. "He makes it sound as if you were a very naughty little 12 year old."

"He didn't mean it that way." I say, " When I was younger I was a real fighter when it came to the whitecoats performing tests on me. I think I mentioned that I enjoyed taking bites out of scientists after they had run tests on me to see how long I could go without food before the lack of it started to wear me down. But the truth is that I did that all the time when I was 12. It was the only way I could think of to maintain a sembilence of control in my life. That's why he calls me the little wildcat, when I get angry I tend to turn into a wild animal. I think that attitude when I was younger was a side affect of my shapeshifting ability even though I didn't actually start shapeshifting until a few days ago. I think that was just my ability's way of trying to make itself known though no one realized it at the time.


	26. Author's note 2

Sorry it's taking so long to update my story. I would like to update more often but my ship is underway almost all the time and when we are underway I don't have WI-FI and I am almost always working. I will update at the next opportunity I get.


	27. Chapter 27

AUTHORS NOTE 3

Sorry for taking so long to update my fanfiction. As I mentioned before my ship was underway almost all the time so I didn't have access to the internet as much as I would have liked. Since I am back to being a civilian I should be able to update much more often and will get a new chapter up as soon as I possible can. I understand if you have given up on my story since it has been a long time since my last update but I would greatly appreciate it if you got into it again


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